City of South San Francisco
South San Francisco History
South San Francisco occupies the basin and portions of the sides of a broad valley formed by the San Bruno Mountains on the north and the Coast Range on the west. Most of the valley faces adjacent San Francisco Bay, affording sweeping vistas, from higher levels and a definite sense of identification with the Bay. South San Francisco has mild winters and dry, cool summers. It is a place of recreation in parks, swimming pools, and marina.
Beginnings
According to archeologists, San Bruno Mountain was first settled about 5,000 years ago and may have been the first location on the San Francisco Peninsula to be inhabited. The native peoples who occupied the San Francisco Peninsula at the time of European contact are known as Costanoan, a term derived from the Spanish word "Costanos" meaning coast people. Native Americans currently living in the Bay Area prefer the term "Ohlone" meaning "abalone people". These people settled on and around San Bruno Mountain, subsisting on hunting, fishing, and gathering mussels, shellfish, and native plants. Middens or shell mounds that date back thousands of years, are found in Buckeye Canyon, the eastern slope of the Southeast Ridge, and the inland sand dunes in Daly City.
Becoming a City
In April 1892, W. J. Martin was appointed land agent for the South San Francisco Land and Improvement Company. Under his direction, the town began to take shape, and he began a ceaseless campaign for the industrial development of this city. Through his efforts, factory after factory located here until a score of great manufacturing industries were gathered prompting South City’s moniker, “The Industrial City.”
The residential section began on a small plat west of the present Bayshore Freeway. At Grand and Cypress Avenues the first house in South San Francisco was built in November 1891. That same month William Martin erected the second building in town – which he used as a real estate office. In the early years, population in the residential area grew almost as impressively as industry. By 1895 the town had 671 residents (354 men, 146 women, 171 children). To encourage settlement, in 1894 the Land Company helped build the north county’s largest school – a spacious, two-story structure which took in pupils from kindergarten through high school.
On July 15, 1905, the Bank of South San Francisco was incorporated and opened for business with a paid capital of $50,000. On September 3, 1908, South San Francisco was incorporated with 2,000 inhabitants.
Growth
South San Francisco, known as “South City” among locals, greeted the 1920s with enthusiasm, prosperity and continued growth. The new city hall was dedicated in November 1920. The “South San Francisco An Industrial City” sign was originally whitewashed on Sign Hill in 1923. A bond issue to make the letters permanent was passed with the help of the Chamber of Commerce in 1928 and the present sixty‐foot concrete letters were constructed in 1929.
The popularity of new auto and airplane industries brought more businesses such as oil, aircraft, and car companies. However, major industries in town continued to be meat packing and steel industries and steel ‐ related industries. When the depression hit in 1929, the economy severely slowed and factory orders all but came to a halt. The building of the Golden Gate Bridge in the early1930s brought a windfall to South San Francisco’s Edwards Wire Rope Company, which supplied all the wire cable for the bridge.
The Baden Kennel Club (a greyhound racing track) opened in 1933, and it employed many who had lost factory jobs. However, wagering was illegal and when the state outlawed greyhound racing, the Club was forced to close in 1938.
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was established in 1935, and the agency had a dramatically beneficial effect on South San Francisco. WPA programs made improvements to Orange Park, moved land from nearby hills for San Francisco Airport bay fill, and built the new Post Office on Linden Avenue. Through the program, painter and muralist Victor Arnautoff was chosen to paint murals at the post office which still grace the walls today
South San Francisco had a reputation as a wild and woolly blue-collar town. Gambling, liquor and prostitution all added to our colorful past. Yet, many residents look back at those years and recall how willing everybody was to help each other. By 1930, South San Francisco had a population of 5,000 people, and was a small, close-knit community.
Major industries continued to locate in South San Francisco, and two world wars brought a transition to shipbuilding: Shaw-Batcher and Belair. The Shaw‐Batcher shipyard built cargo ships and between wars it built barges and dredges and fabricated pipe - becoming one of the pioneers of automatic welding machinery. The shipyard in South San Francisco had four berths from which ships were uniquely launched sideways – two on each side of a large basin at Oyster Point. Following World War II, the population boomed, and a well‐balanced community of industrial and residential areas developed.
The 1950s brought modern industrial parks to the east of the Highway 101 area, such as Cabot, Cabot and Forbes. Freight forwarding, light industries, and other airport-related businesses thrived.
A new era for South San Francisco began in 1976 with the founding of Genentech by venture capitalist Robert Swanson and molecular biologist Dr. Herbert Boyer. Their objective was to explore ways of using recombinant DNA technology to create breakthrough medicines. This earned South San Francisco the new moniker "Birthplace of Biotechnology" and thus attracted other biotech and pharmaceutical businesses to the area. The city now has over 2,800 firms and businesses including more than 250 biotech companies such as Genentech, which gives the city the title of "Birthplace of Biotechnology".
History has proven that South San Francisco is resilient and resourceful - it evolves and transforms with the times – always up for challenges and a new beginning.
The South San Francisco Historical Society has two facilities featuring historical information. The Historical Society Museum, at 80 Chestnut Avenue, houses a collection which includes vintage clothing, photos and artifacts, oral history tapes, historic school yearbooks, newspapers and maps, special exhibits, and a database for researching historical photographs. The Plymire-Schwarz House is a restored 1905 colonial revival style house located at 519 Grand Avenue. This historic home was donated to the Historical Society who worked diligently to restore the furnishings with period-appropriate antiques.
Text courtesy of “The Making of "The Industrial City", Historical Society of South San Francisco, https://ssfhistory.org/