<P> San Francisco was founded on June 29 , 1776 , when colonists from Spain established Presidio of San Francisco at the Golden Gate and Mission San Francisco de Asís a few miles away , all named for St. Francis of Assisi . The California Gold Rush of 1849 brought rapid growth , making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time . San Francisco became a consolidated city - county in 1856 . After three - quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire , San Francisco was quickly rebuilt , hosting the Panama - Pacific International Exposition nine years later . In World War II , San Francisco was a major port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater . It then became the birthplace of the United Nations in 1945 . After the war , the confluence of returning servicemen , massive immigration , liberalizing attitudes , along with the rise of the `` hippie '' counterculture , the Sexual Revolution , the Peace Movement growing from opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War , and other factors led to the Summer of Love and the gay rights movement , cementing San Francisco as a center of liberal activism in the United States . Politically , the city votes strongly along liberal Democratic Party lines . </P>
<P> San Francisco was founded on June 29 , 1776 , when colonists from Spain established Presidio of San Francisco at the Golden Gate and Mission San Francisco de Asís a few miles away , all named for St. Francis of Assisi . The California Gold Rush of 1849 brought rapid growth , making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time . San Francisco became a consolidated city - county in 1856 . After three - quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire , San Francisco was quickly rebuilt , hosting the Panama - Pacific International Exposition nine years later . In World War II , San Francisco was a major port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater . It then became the birthplace of the United Nations in 1945 . After the war , the confluence of returning servicemen , massive immigration , liberalizing attitudes , along with the rise of the `` hippie '' counterculture , the Sexual Revolution , the Peace Movement growing from opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War , and other factors led to the Summer of Love and the gay rights movement , cementing San Francisco as a center of liberal activism in the United States . Politically , the city votes strongly along liberal Democratic Party lines . </P>
when was the city of san francisco founded
when was the city of san francisco founded
June 29 , 1776
June 29 , 1776