Like much of California, European settlement in San Francisco was led by Spanish exploration parties who quickly claimed the city for Spain as part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The mission San Francisco de Asis (Mission Dolores) would give the city it's name. In 1821, declaring it's independence from Spain, it became part of Mexico.

Above is a photograph of the Mission Dolores, for which the City of San Francisco was named.

There was some English settlement that occurred outside the immediate vicinity of the mission, and by 1835, the area began to attract American settlers looking to lay homestead. While the British considered purchasing the area from Mexico as their port in the Pacific, such purchase never came to be and the United States claimed San Francisco as their own in 1846 during the Mexican-American War.

Gold is Discovered

California's gold rush, which begin in 1848, quickly put San Francisco on the map. The prospectors seeking a fortune in gold were called forty-niners and came in droves, not only from America, but Latin America, Europe, Australia and Asia. The cultural diversity of San Francisco today can be greatly attributed to the Gold Rush. The Gold Rush also prompted the admission of California as a state in 1850.

Reproduction of "Sailing to California at the beginning of the Gold Rush" originally published in 1850

Chinatown Emerges

San Francisco boasts the first and largest Chinatown to be established outside Asia. It served as a gateway for Chinese immigrants who came to work in the gold mines. The Chinese workers later worked on the transcontinental railroad. San Francisco's Chinatown pays tribute to the role that Chinese immigrants played in the settlement of the wild, wild west. By 1910. San Francisco's Chinatown had largely become a tourist attraction but endures as the United States preeminent Chinese center.

Above, a photograph of San Francisco's modern day Chinatown.

San Francisco Becomes a Major City

The promise of wealth the Gold Rush offered, lured entrepreneurs to San Francisco. The Transcontinental Railroad was built, the Port of San Francisco was established as a trade center, and in 1852 the banking industry laid root by founding Wells Fargo. Levi Strauss, a German-Jewish immigrant, saw the demand for a dry goods store and relocated his New York City business. Italian born Domenico Ghiradelli, established the famous Ghiradelli Chocolate Company. By the turn of the century, San Francisco was very much a major city.

1906 - San Francisco is Shaken

On April 18. 1906, San Francisco was struck by a major earthquake so powerful it was felt along the Pacific coast from Oregon to Los Angeles and as far inland as central Nevada. Damage from the earthquake ruptured gas lines which resulted in fire throughout the city. Damage to the city from the earthquake was severe, but the fires that continued to burn uncontrollably were even more destructive. Approximately 25,000 buildings in 490 city blocks would be destroyed. Property loss was estimated at more than $400 million. By modern day standards, this would compare to the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina.

1906 San Francisco earthquake aftermath

San Francisco Rebuilds

By 1915, San Francisco celebrated it's rebirth in grand style at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. San Francisco become known as a solid financial capital since none of it's banks had failed during the 1929 stock market crash that claimed so many other financial institutions nationwide. San Francisco was at its peak during this time, investing in the construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge projects.

San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, above, had the world's longest suspension bridge span at the time of it's completion in 1937. It is internationally recognized as the symbol of San Francisco.

By 1936. creation of Treasure Island was underway to host the World's Fair and the Golden Gate International Exposition. In 1945, the UN Charter creating the United Nations was drafted and signed in San Francisco. In 1951, The Treaty of San Francisco was signed, officially putting an end to the war with Japan. San Francisco was once again recognized as one of the world's major cities. 

With so much rich history, San Francisco is a fundamental part of what makes America great. Through it's strength and diversity, the city of San Francisco thrives.

Photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The Indians' homeland stretched across to the Bear River and south of the south or middle fork of the Cosumnes River. The Nisenan tribe was made of a primary, permanent village surrounded by several secondary villages and seasonal camps. The villages encompassed family dwellings, acorn granaries, bedrock mortars, a dance house and sweat house with 15-500 people living there at a time. The usual village sites were along knolls, ridges or streams with a southern exposure.

Here, the Nisenan ground acorns as their main meal and also caught fish with their hands or spears. Salt was obtained from the springs and with the use of fires and snares, they hunted deer, rabbits and other small creatures. Ants, grasshoppers, lizards and frogs were also devoured. Manzanita berries were used to make a cider like beverage. The Nisenan were wiped out by a malaria epidemic in 1833, and the gold miners also took over their land.

Latrobe owes its roots to the Placerville and Sacramento Valley Railroad, which established a station for the tremendous benefit of neighboring Amador County.

The history of the area is further connected to the Gold Rush of the 1850's, the agricultural and economic development of El Dorado County and commerce between Clarksville and Latrobe. In 1849, one year after gold was discovered in California, thousands of hopeful gold seekers arrived in the “diggings.” Many of them came through the area to settle in Latrobe.

The railroad station was located at the intersection of Latrobe Road and South Shingle Road, in what became the town of Latrobe with Shingle Springs as its eastern terminus.

The railroad was completed in 1884. The town was named after the civil engineer who was instrumental in the construction of the first railroad in America.

J.H. Miller, a local rancher and hotel owner, opened the first store in Latrobe in 1863. The population grew to 700-800, with the number of stores increasing to six or seven. Latrobe supported four hotels, three blacksmith shops and a single wagon and carriage factory. Latrobe also offered a bakery and several butcher shops.

There were only three doctors along with two drug stores to take care of the medical needs of the entire community. The public school building, which still stands today as part of Latrobe School, is a two story building that contained all public meetings.

The Masons and Odd Fellows organizations each had their own halls.

By 1864, rails had been laid to the new town of Latrobe, as the first trains rolled in. From then until June 1865, as the line reached Shingle Springs, it was an important way station for the great deal of business that flowed over the Placerville Road to Virginia City. About 23 years later, the railroad extended to Placerville.

Families living along the course of the railroad saw some immediate benefits. However, the acquisition of the right-of-way by the railroad made many other residents angry as they had homesteaded the area but were forced to give up some of their land for the railroad line.

In 1866, hotels were located in Latrobe and Michigan Bar, supplying train passengers and local residents with dinner and overnight accommodations.

For a long time, Latrobe controlled all trade activities of Amador County. The town became the focal point for many travelers, providing eight daily stages in connection with the trains. However, because it wasn't a mining town and the railroad construction continued east, business suffered. The state of prosperity came to a grinding halt in 1883, when the population dwindled down to about 80 people with one general store, one hotel, a telegraph office, two blacksmith shops and the lone carriage and wagon shop.

In 1981, El Dorado County adopted the Latrobe Area Plan, which covers the west side of Logtown Ridge to the Cosumnes River, boasting such landmarks as picturesque Sugarloaf Mountain and Indian Creek.

Today, the businesses no longer exist, and the town consists primarily of multi-acre rural residential parcels such as the Shadow Hawk and Sun Ridge Meadow subdivisions. Another subdivision is currently being built next to Miller's Hill School.

Also still standing is Oddfellows Hall, and what has become one of the highest rated grade schools in California today-Latrobe Elementary School.