South San Francisco History

Community

Alice Peña Bulos Community Center

2021

The Westborough Recreation Center was rededicated as the Alice Peña Bulos Community Center to honor the contributions and achievements of Peña Bulos,...

Eugene Mullin

2021

Eugene Mullin, who had served the community through his long career as an SSF High School teacher, City Council member and Mayor of SSF, and...

City Hall Anniversary

2020

City Hall’s 100th Anniversary

Sign Hill Fire

2020

On October 16, 2020, a massive fire engulfed much of Sign Hill, destroying or damaging over 1,000 trees and leaving the landscape charred and broken.

2020 Census

2020

The population in 2020 was 66,105. Over 40% of the residents are Asian and more than 32% are Hispanic or Latino.

COVID-19 Impacts on City Service

2020

The City of SSF switched to online and remote support of most services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic with most services resuming in person by...

Futurelab

2017

Genentech collaborated with the South San Francisco Unified School District (SSFUSD) to create Futurelab to support science, technology, engineering,...

SSF Scavenger Company

2016

SSF Scavenger Company is the first California facility to convert food scraps and yard waste into fuel. Working with the City of South San Francisco,...

Galli's Sanitary Bakery Closes

2016

After 107 years, this iconic family owned business closed it's doors for the last time in October 2016.

Grand Avenue Library 100th Anniversary

2016

The Grand Avenue Library is a “Carnegie Library” that opened in 1916 celebrates its 100th Anniversary and grand reopening after a remodel which added...

South City Shuttle

2014

Residents and visitors to South San Francisco have a new way of getting around – a free transit bus called the South City Shuttle, providing a...

Jim Fregosi

2014

Former SSF resident Jim Fregosi, Major League Baseball player, manager, scout, and six-time All-Star, passed away. Jim played 11 seasons as the Angels...

Ferry Terminal

2012

The Ferry Terminal at Oyster Point in South San Francisco opened in 2013, providing a commute option for employees from SF and the East Bay.

Miller Avenue Parking Garage

2011

The completion of the Miller Avenue Parking Garage brings 254 parking spaces, including 4 electric vehicle charging stalls, to downtown with easy...

Centennial Way

2009

Centennial Way is completed, providing commuters, bicyclists, joggers and walkers with a safe and serene means to get from the South San Francisco...

Joseph A. Fernekes Building

2008

Constructed in 2008, the Joseph A. Fernekes Building is an award-winning facility located in Orange Memorial Park in South San Francisco. Situated...

Historical Society

2008

The Historical Society museum moves to Chestnut Avenue, and a ribbon cutting is held November 6.

Centennial Celebration

2008

The 100 year anniversary celebration of the City of South San Francisco begins with a Gala on January 1, and continues through the year with various...

BART

2003

The SSF BART station opens and becomes an immediate asset to the community. The interior includes barrel vault roofs reminicent of San Bruno...

Biotech

2003

Genentech has become one of the city's largest employers with 4,500 employees. South San Francisco is home to over 80 biotech companies.

Community Learning Center

2001

The CLC, a program of the SSF Public Library dedicated to improving resident's lives through educational opportunities opens at 520 Tamarack Lane.

Industry and Art

1999

SSF is home to 40 biotech companies and the Millennium sculpture, created by James T. Russell, on Westborough Boulevard and dedicated on November...

Day in the Park

1996 - 2010

The 1st Day in the Park at Orange Memorial Park inculdes a car show, entertainment, and exhibits. Created by Councilman Fernekes it is sponsored by...

Sign Hill Historic Designation

1996

Sign Hill is placed on the California Registration of Historical Resources and National Register of Historical Places.

Plymire Schwarz Museum

1994

The Plymire-Schwarz Museum, at 519 Grand Avenue, is a restored 1905 colonial revival style house located at 519 Grand Avenue. This historic home was...

Conference Center

1993

The South San Francisco Conference Center opens.

Population

1990

South San Francisco is growing and thriving with a population of 54,312.

Steel Industy

1983

U.S. Steel, previously Western Pipe & Steel, closes its SSF plant after almost 70 years of service. The steel industry that had dominated the city and...

Basque Cultural Center

1982

The Basque Cultural Center was established in SSF after groundbreaking began in 1981. The Center includes a member hall and handball courts, and...

Historical Society

1981

The Historical Society of South San Francisco is incorporated to preserve local history and opens the Historical Society Museum in 1988, located in...

Sister Cities

1978

South San Francisco has been a member of Sister Cities International since 1978, when the city first partnered with Lucca, Italy. Since then, South...

Genentech

1976

Robert Swanson & Herbert Boyer founded Genentech in a warehouse, as the first biotech company, many more companies would be created and attracted to...

City Growth

1975 - 1980

By 1975, 325 full time employees work for the City of South San Francisco. The population rises by 49,393 by 1980.

Kaiser

1974

Kaiser Permanente Medical Center moves from the building at Grand & Spruce to a modern facility at 1200 El Camino Real.

Sign Hill

1970

The population of South San Francisco has risen to 47,700. Voters choose to retain Sign Hill, which the City estimates would cost $40,000 to remove.

Swift & Company

1968

Swift and Company, formerly Western Meat Company, closes down after 74 years.

Skidoo

1968

Otto Preminger came to town to film part of the movie "Skidoo" in the SSF City Hall.

Main Library

1967

The new Main Library, located on West Orange Avenue, is dedicated in the memory of Rue Clifford. The construction cost $865,000. The population is...

Wind Harp

1967

A 92 foot steel sculpture designed by Aristides Demetrios is unveiled on a hilltop in the 7,600 acre industrial park.

All Souls Church Fire

1964 - 1969

All Souls Catholic Church is destroyed in a major fire. Rebuilding begins in 1965 and is dedicated in 1969.

Morelos Society

1964

Inauguration of new Morelos Society meeting hall at 209 Miller, where it still stands today as a venue for weddings, meetings, and other receptions.

Industrial Park

1963

Cabot, Cabot & Forbes Industrial Park is announced; F.W. Woolworth, Graybar Electric, Infant Specialty , Monterey Cheese, and Thompson Industries...

Westborough

1962

530 acres of Westborough are annexed by SSF.

WP Fuller Paint Plant

1962

The WP Fuller Paint Plant merged with Hunt Foods, and in 1967 merged again with O'Brien Varnish to become Fuller O'Brien.

Oyster Point Marina

1962

Oyster Point Marina opened with facilities fo 286 small craft. This would later be expanded to hold over 400 boats by the 1970's. The Marina included...

El Camino High School

1961

Newly constructed El Camino High School opens on the former Reichardt Duck Farm on Old Mission Road to serve the rising population of 39,418...

Golden Jubilee

1958

The City celebrates its Golden Jubilee in grand style.

Kaiser Permanente

1953

SSF General Hospital becomes Kaiser Permanente.

Buri Buri Park

1953

Buri Buri Playground, gifted to the City by J. Frank Barrett and Harry H. Hilp, is dedicated in August.

Sing Sheng vs. Southwood

1952

Chinese immigrant Sing Sheng and his family attempted to move into the all-white Southwood neighborhood, but faced racial discrimination after he...

Transformation

1950

South San Francisco's population is 19,351. Utah Construction, with City support, developed an "industrial park", by blasting away a 150' rock hill...

City Manager/City Council

1949

The City Manager/City Council form of government was adopted, but it wasn't until 1954 that the new system was in full operation. The first City...

Streetcar

1949

The #40 streetcar line, an important form of transportation between the Village of Baden and San Francisco, stopped running.

Fire Station

1949

Voters approved funding for a modern fire station and training facility and the City Council approved funding to hire paid, trained firefighters.

Starlite Drive-In

1948

The Starlite Drive-In Theater opened with the entrance located on Linden Avenue, bounded by Spruce Avenue and Canal Street.

VJ Day

1948

Around 1,600 local men joined the military and some 20 did not return. VJ Day was celebrated with wild joy at the Fraternal Hall on Grand Avenue with...

War Effort

1944

By July 1944, 15,594 men and women are employed. Ships built are unique in that all 48 are constructed without rivets, instead welding the seems. A...

Lindenville

1943 - 1958

Lindenville, a problematic federal housing development, is created with 720 units housing 4,200 people. In 1943, the Peninsula Chapter of the NAACP...

Steel Industry in WWII

1940 - 1941

Western Pipe & Steel lays first keel under government contract for ships during WWII. There are 250 men working on the ways. Liberty Fleet Day is...

Morelos Society's Annual Independence Day

1940

Ester Navarro was the first queen elected for Morelos Society's annual Independence Day celebration.

Employee Housing

1938

An extensive program of housing was initiated under the Federal Housing Act providing new homes for the factory employees of the industrial plants....

Population

1938 - 1940

South San Francisco has grown to a population of 6,290. 5,000 people are employed at various factories, including Swift & Company (previously Western...

David W. Ratto

1936

David W. Ratto, first Italian American to become SSF mayor.

The Morelos Society

1933

The Morelos Society (La Sociedad Mutualista Mexicana Morelos) was established in 1933 in SSF.

Entertainment & Industry

1931 - 1932

The State Theater, located at the corner of Linden and Baden Avenue opened in 1931. Western Meat Co. became Swift and Co. in 1932, and by the...

Phantom of the Bayshore

1930

Augie Terrango becomes SSF's first motorcycle police officer, nicknamed the Phantom of the Bayshore, reports up to 8 accidents a day at the...

Sign Hill

1929

Sign Hill, the signature image of SSF, becomes permanent. $4,845 is spent to plant "South San Francisco the Industrial City" in sixty foot cement...

Joe's Blue Room

1928

Joe and Tisbe "Mama" Bertolucci opened Joe's Blue Room as a boardinghouse for steel mill workers in SSF, later became Bertolucci's Ristorante in 1962...

Community Growth

1926 - 1927

SSF now has 36 industries and holds a groundbreaking for an underpass allowing Bayshore Highway traffic to pass beneath the Southern Pacific Railroad...

Parks & Roads

1924 - 1925

In 1924, San Bruno Road is changed to Hillside Boulevard, and in 1925 SSF Land & Improvement Co. donated 20 acres for Orange Park (3rd Street) & the...

La Sociedad Mutualista Mexicana Morelos

1924 - 1926

Eight South San Francisco men begin collecting funds and organizing fiestas for the local Mexican community. These men would later form La Sociedad...

Support Local Businesses

1923

The Chamber promotes local businesses by publishing slogans such as "Think well of your town, speak well of it, remember you live here. Buy here....

Louis Belloni

1922 - 1930

Louis Belloni, born in San Jose May 12, 1895, formerly a butcher for Western Meat Company, joins the SSF Police Department in 1922 and is appointed as...

City Hall

1920

City Hall, built for $125,000 with plans replicating Philadelphia's Independence Hall, is erected and dedicated. Thousands attended the dedication and...

SSF On the Move

1918 - 1920

SSF General Hospital moves to a modern building at Grand and Spruce Avenues while the W.P. Fuller and Company ships about 200 tons of products to SF...

Ship Yards

1916 - 1918

SSF is considered part of the Port of San Francisco; pierheads and bulkhead lines are established by order of the War Department. Shipyard companies...

Community Growth

1916

1916 is a busy year in SSF with All Souls Church being dedicated, the City's first high school, Spruce Avenue High School, opening, the Italian...

Italian American Citizens Club

1916

The Italian American Citizens Club was established in South San Francisco.

First Library in SSF

1916

Philanthropist Andrew Carnegie granted the City $10,000 and provided the building plans. The Library, on the corner of Grand and Walnut Avenues, was...

Fire Department

1915

The SSF Fire Department acquires a Seagrave pumper, the first motorized fire engine.

Dr. Harry Plymire

1914

Dr. Harry Plymire converted his home, at the corner of Spruce and Grand Avenues, into a hospital.

Metropolitan Hotel

1914

Metropolitan Hotel opens & houses many early businesses. It has a long association with commercial and community events.

Santo Cristo Festa

1914

Santo Cristo Festa was celebrated in SSF by local Portuguese immigrants as early as 1914. In 1924, there was a Portuguese celebration including a...

Shaw-Batcher Steel Company

1913

The Shaw-Batcher Steel Company is established in 1913.

Civic Center

1913

The city block bounded by Grand, Walnut, Miller, and Maple Avenues is purchased by the City from the SSF Land & Improvement Co. for its future civic...

SSF High School District

1913

South San Francisco High School District is organized and classes are temporarily held at the Grand Avenue Elementary School. Rue Randall Clifford...

Santo Cristo Society

1912

The Society is formed and donors names are paved into the sidewalk at the corner of Linden and California Avenues. A house in SSF rents for $15 per...

Chinese Shrimp Camps

1912

It was reported that four Chinese owned and operated shrimp camps burned down in 1912 along the bay shore of South San Francisco. The origin was...

Industry & Community Growth

1908 - 1910

In 1908, Griffa and Sons, a family owned general store, opens on the 100 block of Grand and moves to 240 Grand in 1909. In 1909, Pacific Coast Steel,...

City of SSF Incorporated

1908

Incorporation is granted by the County of San Mateo on September 3, and on September 19, the State of California designates South San Francisco a city...

Company Town

1907 - 1908

SSF is known as a company town, new industries include: Steiger Terra Cotta, Fuller Paint Company, 2 steel mills, a tannery, 2 brickyards, and a...

Earthquake

1906

Henry Miller orders butcher shops along the earthquake destruction swath to hand out free meats to earthquake victims for a period of 7 days.

Community Resources

1905 - 1906

The South San Francisco Women's Club was formed in 1905, and the South San Francisco General Hospital, at Grand and Maple Avenues, was established.

Bank of South San Francisco

1905

The Bank of South San Francisco was incorporated and opened for business in 1905.

SSF Railroad & Power Company

1904

The SSF Railroad & Power Co., aka "New Electric Line", begins streetcar operations along Grand Avenue to the waterfront in 1904, providing an easy...

New Churches

1902 - 1906

In 1902, a Catholic church, later named All Souls Catholic Church, is built at Linden & California. St. Paul's Methodist Church began holding services...

Community Growth

1899 - 1900

By 1899, the old Charles Lux ranch becomes a popular picnic spot. Spectators come to watch cowboys hired to break wild horses for use as U.S. Cavalry...

W.P. Fuller

1899

W.P. Fuller Oil & Lead Company relocates to SSF Land & Improvement Company property at Oyster Point after a fire in their San Francisco facility.

Early Chinese Immigration

1898

A group of Chinese immigrants settled in Baden and ran a variety of businesses including a violet farm and shrimp camp near San Bruno Point.

South San Francisco Lumber Company

1898

The South San Francisco Lumber Company was established in 1898.

Western Meat Company

1896 - 1899

As of 1896, the Western Meat Company is slaughtering a weekly average of 700 cattle, 4,000 lambs & sheep, and 3,000 pigs. As of 1899, Western Meat...

Grace Episcopal Church

1896

The Grace Episcopal Church at Grand and Spruce was dedicated.

Read all about it!

1895

The Enterprise, conceived by Ebenezer Cunningham and William Marting, begins publication and becomes SSF's second newspaper. One week after the...

Population

1895

Baden, now known as South San Francisco, had 671 inhabitants in 1895.

Baden School

1894

Baden School is constructed for $10,000 with 4 classrooms and a broad sidewalk so kids will not lose their boots in the mud getting from the hitching...

New Industry

1894

Steiger Terra Cotta Pottery Works and Baden Brick Company are established in 1894.

Western Meat Company

1893 - 1894

Incorporation of Western Meat Company, SSF's first major industry. Controlled by the "Beef Trust" Swift, Armour, Cudahy, & Morris. In 1894, Andrew...

South San Francisco News

1892

South San Francisco News, the town's first newspaper, begins publication in March, 1892 and continued publishing until September, 1893.

Merriam Block

1891

Merriam Block (presently the northwest corner of Airport Boulevard and Grand Avenue) built.

SSF Land & Improvement Company

1890

The South San Francisco Land and Improvement Company was incorporated.

Peter Iler

1889

Peter Iler of Omaha, Nebraska was commissioned by Gustavus F. Swift to choose a location for a town and meat packing plant in California.

Henry Miller

1858

German immigrants to California, Charles Lux and Henry Miller formed a partnership which at its height, owns an estimated million head of cattle and...

Charles Lux

1856

German butcher & businessman, Charles Lux, purchases part of Rancho Buri Buri to fatten cattle preceding slaughter. This is the beginning of Baden...

Alfred Edmonson

1853

1,500 acres of the Rancho Buri Buri is sold by Isidro Sanchez to Aldred Edmonson.

Twelve Mile Farm

1850

The Twelve Mile Farm was built in 1850

Chinese Immigration to California

1850

Chinese immigrants begin arriving in California, seeking opportunities through the Gold Rush and building of the transcontinental railroad.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

1848

Mexico cedes territories to the United States as a result of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, entering California into American statehood.

Rancho Buri Buri

1835 - 1843

Mexico grants Jose Antonio Sanchez, a noted soldier and Indian fighter, 15,000 acres of land from Millbrae to Colma in 1853. Jose Antonio Sanchez,...

Mexico earns independence from Spain

1821

Mexico earns independence from Spain, seeing California's adoption into Mexican statehood.

Ramaytush Ohlone: The Original Peoples of the San Francisco Peninsula

1769

Before the arrival of the Spanish in 1769, the Ramaytush Ohlone totaled approximately 1500 and lived in the area of the San Francisco Bay south to...

California Explored

1769

Gaspar de Portola Expedition, led by Father Junipero Serra, explores upper California & discovers SF Bay.

Sir Francis Drake

1579

Sir Frances Drake lands on the California Coast, it is not certain if the site is Ana Nuevo or Point Reyes

California

1542

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo claims California

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. South San Francisco has a long and interesting history that can be explored through this interactive timeline.

1542-01-15 00:00:00

California

1579-01-26 00:00:00

Sir Francis Drake

1769-03-04 07:22:14

California Explored

1769-06-01 00:00:00

Ramaytush Ohlone: The Original Peoples of the San Francisco Peninsula

1821-08-24 00:00:00

Mexico earns independence from Spain

1835-09-23 12:19:14

Rancho Buri Buri

1848-02-02 00:00:00

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

1850-06-01 00:00:00

Chinese Immigration to California

1850-09-24 12:19:14

Twelve Mile Farm

1853-09-24 12:19:14

Alfred Edmonson

South San Francisco History

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