USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > The San Francisco directory: embracing a general directory of citizens, a street directory, a new and complete map of the city, 1852-53 > Part 2
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In the mean time the town was slowly increasing, some importance being attached to it in consequence of the hides and tallow which it exported. In 1839, it was laid out as a town by Captain JOHN VIOGET, the few houses being previously scattered without regularity. In 1845, there were one hundred and fifty inhabitants. About this time it began to attract the attention of some adventurous Americans, and the population increased in two years to nearly five hundred. It was, in fact, an Amer- ican settlement, long before Upper California became a territory of the United States.
For the benefit of distant readers, it may be well briefly to describe its situation.
The city of San Francisco stands on a narrow neck of land between the Bay and the Ocean, fronting eastward on the Bay and having the Ocean five miles on the west. The Bay extends southward some fifty miles, parallel with the sea, from which it is separated by a narrow strip of land, varying from five to twenty miles in width. The city is on the extreme point of this promontory. Its site is handsome and commanding, being on an inclined plane half a mile in extent, from the water's edge, to the hills in the rear. Two points of land, Clark's Point on the north, and Rincon Point, on the south, one mile apart, project into the Bay, forming a crescent between them, which is the water front of the city, and which has already been filled in and covered with buildings to the extent of half a mile. Those points, and the lofty hills north and west, upon which the city is rapidly climbing, afford a most extensive and picturesque view of the surrounding country. There are scarcely to be found more charming and diversified prospects, than are presented from thesc heights. Taking your stand on Telegraph Hill, to the north of the city, and looking eastward, you sce the spacious Bay, eight miles in width, crowded with ships from all quarters of the globe, and the fertile coast of Contra Costa, beyond, with its new city of Oakland, behind which risc hill on hill, to the Redwood forests on the summits. Towering over these, is the conical peak of Mount Diabolo, at a distance of thirty- five miles. To the north is the entrance from the Ocean, almost beneath your feet, and Saucelito, six miles distant, at the foot of the opposite hills. The northern arm of the Bay also stretches away till lost in the distance, studded with smoking steam-
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ers on their way to the numerous points on the Sacramento and San Joaquin riv- ers. Turning to the south you look down on the busy city, whose tumultuous din rings steadily in your ear-the Mission Dolores in a charming little valley be- yond, backed by graceful hills-the southern arm of the bay lost in the horizon, and the dim and distant coast range of mountains running parallel on the east. Facing the west you look upon the narrow strait through which the restless ocean ebbs and flows, and into which the sea breeze sweeps daily with its chilling but purifying mists-the Golden-Gate-the Presidio-the Fort-the great ocean beyond.
Prior to the construction of wharves the principal landing was near the foot of Broadway and towards Clark's Point, where there was a bold shore with deep water. Boats also landed at North Beach, which obtained the name of Washer- woman's Bay ; its clean, sandy shore affording facilities for washing. The only wharf in 1846 was at the foot of Clay street.
The war with Mexico, which broke out in 1846, gave an impulse to the com- merce of the port, by requiring the shipment of supplies for military purposes. On the 13th of March, 1847, there were in the harbor the extraordinary number of six vessels, viz : U. S. ship Cyane, ship Moscow, ship Vandalia, ship Barnsta- ble, ship Thomas H. Perkins, and brig Euphemia. On the 18th of December of that year there were four vessels in port, and no arrivals had occurred for a week. The imports for the last quarter of 1847 amounted to $49,600, and the exports to $53,600. In the first quarter of 1848 there were nine arrivals of vessels, four of which were from Monterey and San Pedro.
In April, 1847, the number of inhabitants exlusive of Indians, was 375. Eight months afterwards, when a census was taken by the Board of School Trustees, the number exceeded 800. Of these there were adult males, 473; adult females, 177 ; children of age proper to attend school, 60. This increase of more than an hundred per cent. in eight months, took place some months before the discovery of gold, and when California was sought merely for agricultural and commercial purposes.
As early as January, 1847, a complaint was published in the California Star that there was no school for children, the writer stating that he had counted forty children playing in the street. A public meeting was then called, to adopt mea- sures to found a school. But the project failed. Some months later it was re- vived, with better success. A school house was built, and completed by the 1st of December. On the 21st of February, 184%, an election was held for School Trus- tees, and the following gentlemen were chosen : Dr. F. Fourgeaud, C. L. Ross, Esq., Dr. J. Townsend, J. Serrine, Esq., and W. H. Davis, Esq. The Town Council passed a resolution that "not exceeding four hundred dollars be appropri- ated to the payment of the teacher of the public school of this place ; two hundred to be paid at the expiration of the first six months, and two hundred at the expi- ration of twelve months from the commencement of the school." That was the day of small things. Gold was a scarce article in California, except as a hidden treasure. But the enterprise and energy of the American people were neverthe- less directing themselves in a channel which would have made the country great and prosperous, even if there had not been a grain of the precious metal hidden in
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her soil. The first American school in California was duly opened on Monday, the 3d day of April, 1848. As this was a movement of great moment to the in- fant settlement, it is believed that the announcement of the school, as made by the Trustees in the columns of the " California Star," will interest the reader suffi- ciently to warrant its introduction in this sketch. It was in the following form :
"SCHOOL .- The school to be kept in the public school house of San Francisco will commence on Monday, the third of April next, under the superintendence of MR. THOMAS DOUGLASS, a graduate of Yale College, Connecticut."
"Mr. D. has had more than ten years' experience in the instruction of acade- mies and high schools in the States, and has in his possession testimonials from the 'Trustees of those institutions which speak of him as a skillful and successful teacher, and as well qualified for the business of his profession. The undersigned Trustees, therefore, cheerfully recommend his school to the patronage of the citi- zens of this town and vicinity, confident that he will do all in his power to impart a thorough education to pupils committed. to his care."
" The terms of tuition will be as follows :-
For instruction in Reading, Writing, Spelling and Defining, and Geography, $5,00 per quarter. In the above branches, with the addition of Mental and Practical Arithmetic, English Grammar and English Composition, $6,00 per quarter. In any or all of the above, together with Mental and Moral Science, Ancient and Modern History, Chemistry and Natural Philosophy, $8,00 per quarter. In any or all the above branches, together with Geometry, Algebra, Trigonometry, As- tronomy, Surveying and Navigation, $10,00 per quarter. In any of the above, together with the Latin and Greck languages, $12,00."
The great importance of this undertaking required that the teacher should have an adequate compensation. To meet the case, the Town Council adopted and published the following resolution :
" Resolved, That not exceeding four hundred dollars be appropriated to the payment of the teacher of the public school in this place. Two hundred to be paid at the expiration of six months, and two hundred at the expiration of twelve months from the commencement of the school."
In the appointment of this salary there was a degree of economy, and in the mode of disbursement a degree of caution, which we might look for in vain in the subsequent golden age of California. The conclusion is evident, however incredi- ble to the generation of gold seekers who soon followed, that the early settlers of San Francisco had some other designs in view than the rapid accumulation of wealth.
This first American school on the Pacific coast south of Oregon, though found- ed apparently on a basis so safe and economical, had a short lived existence. In less than a year the gold excitement was to sweep over the country like a whirl- wind, and for a season to crush everything like intellectual and moral culture, substituting the one all-absorbing passion for the accumulation of wealth.
Early in May, 1847, a public meeting was held, and a committee appointed, for the purpose of organizing a religious congregation, and erecting a place of wor- ship.
In the beginning of the same year there were about fifty houses, of all descrip- tions. The largest number were built of adobes. They were mostly small, low structures, consisting of one or two apartments, and were scattered about from Broadway to Happy Valley.
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In one year from that time and prior to the discovery of gold, so rapid was the growth of the town that two hundred new houses had sprung up. Quite a num- ber of these primitive edifices are still standing, though most of them have been destroyed by the various conflagrations that have swept over the city. After every extensive fire the walls of these buildings were to be seen, standing in melancholy loneliness in the midst of the desolation.
In 1847, Broadway wharf was barely visible as a landing place, and some en- terprising citizens undertook to extend it a few yards for the better accommoda- tion of vessels. But the disastrous effects of the improvement on certain property in the neighborhood induced a petition to the authorities to prohibit its extension. Those worthy conservatives would have taken no notice of a scheme to extend it to half its present dimensions, regarding such a project as extravagant and ri- diculous.
It appears that the early settlers were bent on reducing the town to the order and decorum of some Atlantic cities. Ordinances were passed in 1847, imposing a fine of five dollars on any person allowing hogs to run at large, and a fine of twenty dollars on any person discharging fire-arms within a mile of the public square. Complaints were even made in the newspapers against the practice of smoking cigars in the Magistrate's office and other public places. Since that remote era of primitive simplicity, the inhabitants of San Francisco have become perfectly inured to hogs, fire-arms and tobacco, in all their uses and applications.
In January, 1847, an ordinance was published by Washington A. Bartlett, Chief Magistrate, directing that the name of " Yerba Buena," as applied to the town, be changed to " San Francisco," in all official communications and public documents, or records appertaining to the town. This was done to prevent confusion and mistakes in public documents, and that the town may have the advantage of the name given on the published maps.
On the 13th of September, 1847, the first election was held for six members of Council. The number of votes polled was two hundred, which exceeded all pre- vious calculations. The following gentlemen had the honor of being the success- ful candidates : Wm. A. Liedsdorff, Edward P. Jones, Robert Parker, W. D. M. Howard, William Glover, and William S. Clark. They held heir first meeting and entered on the duties of office on the 16th of the same month.
" The Steamboat" made its experimental trip on the 15th of November in that year, performing a successful expedition around "Wood Island." This pioneer in steam navigation was a diminutive vessel whose name is not given. It at- tracted much attention by its novelty, and two days afterwards proceeded to Santa Clara.
In April, 1847, a semi-monthly mail was established to San Diego and other southward points. On the 1st of April in the following year the " California Star Express" left by the overland route, after several months' trumpeting. This for- midable enterprise, the first regular conveyance to the States, was announced to go through as far as Independence, Mo. in sixty days. The postage on a letter was fifty cents.
Early in 1848 a feverish excitement appears to have taken hold of the public mind, in regard to the supposed mineral treasures of the country. But it is wor-
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thy of remark that gold was the metal least thought of or talked of. The quick- silver mines near San Jose had long been known and worked. Other deposits of quicksilver ore were reported in all directions. Copper was discovered some- where, saltpetre and sulphur also, a quarry of limestone was opened, and coal had been found near San Francisco, which, however, had the unfortunate quality of be- ing incombustible. Silver also was said to have been discovered in various direc- tions. To this metal indeed, more than to any other, was expectation directed, and people seemed to have an idea that the land was underlaid with silver ore.
The first discovery of gold was made near Sutter's Fort, thirty miles from Sac- ramento, or New Helvetia as it was then called, in December, 1847. But the stories told of it were too good to be credited. In March, however, the papers of San Francisco announced that " the quantity of gold taken from the mine recently found at New Helvetia was so great that it had become an article of traffic in that vicinity." In a short time the editors and others began to see the lumps of "pure virgin gold" with their own eyes. The "yellow fever," as it was facetiously called, then broke forth with extreme violence, and carried off the population as rapidly as means of travel could be obtained. The "Star" of May 27th, gave a most lugubrious article, dating the prosperity of the town from the occupation of the country by the United States, but averring that never within the last three years had it presented a less life-like, more barren appearance than at the present time. Stores were closed and houses left tenantless, the hum of industry silenced, and everything wore a desolate and sombre look, all being dull, monotonous and dead. Lawyers, merchants, grocers, carpenters, cartmen and cooks rushed in one motley assemblage to the mines. The few merchants who remained posted up on their stores the since familiar placard "Highest price paid here for California gold."- Such was the melancholy tone of the public press. "The unhappy consequences of this state of affairs," adds the editor, " are easily foreseen !"
The "Star" of the 3d of June announced the death of its comrade, the " Cali- fornian," by the " prevailing fever," and declared its own existence threatened by the same epidemic, which had entered the printing office and even seized the " devil." Its forebodings proved to be true, as the " California Star" did not ap- pear above the horizon the next week. In six weeks the former paper was re- vived, and the Star rose again soon afterwards. The editor of the Californian, however, entered on his new life with serious misgivings, threatening in the first issue again to retreat to the mines if not sustained by the citizens. The two pa- pers were then united, and the joint concern finally took the name of the " Alta California."
The temporary suspension of trade and business was soon followed by the most extraordinary activity. Adventurers from all nations, and merchandize of all kinds began to pour into the town, on the way to the mining region. Buildings that had been vacated were filled with newly arrived gold seekers, hurrying to the mines. Storehouses were in demand for mercantile purposes, and labor, which had been but one or two dollars a day prior to the discovery of gold, was not to be had at any price. Carpenters often refused fifteen and twenty dollars a day. Schools and churches were forgotten, and if public meetings were held, the object was to fix the value of gold dust, or to make plans for testing it. In August im-
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migrants began to arrive at the rate of five hundred a month. In the middle of Soptember the harbor was described as crowded with shipping, the wharves lined with goods and merchandize, and the streets filled with a busy throng. Fifty persons, it was computed, spent the night without the cover of a roof.
In the first two months of the golden age, the amount of precious dust brought into San Francisco was estimated at $250,000, and in the next two months, at $600,000.
In September, 1848, an era took place in the history of the city and of the coun try. This was nothing less than the arrival of the first square-rigged vessel in the port-the brig Belfast, from New York, laden with a valuable cargo. She hauled up to Broadway wharf, the only wharf accessible to such a vessel, and there discharged. No sooner was she known to be landing her cargo than goods of all kinds fell twenty-five per cent., and real estate rose fifty per cent. A vacant lot on the corner of Washington and Montgomery streets, at that time bordering on the water, which had been offered for $5,000 and refused, sold readily the very next day for $10,000.
The first brick building was erected at the corner of Montgomery and Clay streets, by Mellus and Howard, in September, 1848. This was the second brick building in upper California, one having been previously erected at Monterey.
About this time a proposition was made to form a temperance society, and another to establish a lyceum. One of the newspapers, however, pronounced these schemes premature, and proposed to begin the work of bettering the condi- tion of society by opening a theatre. There was nevertheless some philanthropic and religious feeling buried in the hearts of the people, and seeking an opportunity for exercise. At a public meeting to fix a standard of value for gold dust, a project was started to establish a hospital for sick miners, of whom it was publicly de- clared that not less than eight had died in San Francisco during the season. A public meeting for religious purposes was held in November, and it was resolved that something decisive ought to be done for the souls of the people. A proposi- tion was made to elect a "Chaplain for the City," which was concurred in with great unanimity, and the Rev. T. D. Hunt was then duly elected to the responsi- ble station of "Chaplain to the city of San Francisco," with a yearly salary of $2,500.
At an election for Councilmen in October, 1848, 158 votes were polled ; at an election in December, the number of votes was 317 ; and at an election held in August, the year following, the city was able to poll 1519 votes.
In October, 1848, the Town Council agreed to pay their clerk five dollars for every meeting at which he officiated. It had not been many months since the salary of the teacher of the public school was fixed at $400 per annum, or a little over one dollar a day.
On the 1st of December the same year, flour was sold at twenty-seven dollars a barrel, beef at twenty, pork at sixty ; butter at ninety cents a pound, and cheese at seventy cents. To show the fluctuating character of the market at that day, it may be added that on the 15th of the month, only two weeks later, flour sold at twelve to fifteen dollars a barrel, and other articles had fallen in proportion. The
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all n:portant and indispensable article of brandy was eight dollars per gallon. Gold dust was $10,50 per ounce.
In December, 1848, an important event transpired in the re opening of the pub- lic school, under the charge of Wm. H. Christian. Though it was announced as a " public" school, yet the terms of tuition were advertised at $8,00 a term.
In November, 1848, when the people returned from the mines for the winter, rich with the precious metal, the effects of the gold discovery on San Francisco were most sensibly felt. Lots that had been purchased in the spring for from one hundred to two thousand dollars, now ranged from one thousand to fifteen thousand. Buildings that had previously rented at from ten to twenty dollars per month were now taken with avidity at from twenty to one hundred dollars per month.
By February, 1849, the population had increased to two thousand. The duties collected at the Custom House for the four quarters of 1848, were as follows :-
First Quarter, $11,931-Second Quarter, $8,835-Third Quarter, $74,827- Fourth Quarter, $100,480.
The imports of merchandize during the year were about $1,000.000, and the importation of coin about the same amount, while the exports of gold dust for the last six months was $2,000,000, or something less than the quantity regularly ex- ported every two weeks, four years afterwards.
The First fire was in January, 1849-the burning of the "Shades Hotel." In June, the ship Philadelphia was burnt in the harbor, as she was preparing to set sail for the Sandwich Islands. Both these conflagrations were the result of ac- cident.
On the 1st Day of February, 1849, arrived the first steamship in the mail ser vice-the California. This important event, which was looked for with extreme interest, excited the utmost enthusiasm. She was received with salutes of can- non, and cheer on cheer of the enraptured citizens.
The Public School appears to have passed through a series of vicissitudes in those days. We find that it was again revived in April, 1849, under the charge of Rev. Albert Williams.
On the 18th of May, arrived the ship Grey Eagle, of Philadelphia, having made the passage in the remarkably short time of 117 days, including four days' stop- page at Valparaiso. Thus far it was the quickest passage, and it was not sur- passed for a long while.
It was computed that the number of immigrants in the country by the begin- ning, of June that year was fifteen thousand, of whom the larger portion had dis- embarked at this port. Sixty-four vessels were in the harbor. In the month of July there arrived by sea 3614 souls. Some idea of the rapid march of the coun- try in those times may be formed from the fact that on a single day, the 1st of July, there arrived 17 vessels, with 889 passengers.
In August, 1849, the prices of some articles ranged as follows : Flour twelve to thirteen dollars a barrel ; pork eighteen dollars; cheese forty cents per lb; butter seventy-five cents ; lard ten ; oil one dollar per gallon. At this date the number of inhabitants was computed to be five thousand. The number of arrivals in the month was 3895, of whom 87 were females. In September the arrivals were
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5802, including 122 females, and in October 4,000. 'The number of tons of ship- ping in port on the 30th of August, was 62,000, and in another month the amount was 94,000 tons.
'The Baptists built the first Protestant house of worship in California, and dedicated it on the 5th of August, 1849. It is the same building now used by them, standing in Washington street below Stockton.
Central Wharf, which was commenced in July, was sufficiently built to be used in the latter part of the year.
No small degree of commotion was produced by the launching of a little iron steamboat, in October. She left Central Wharf on an experimental trip, which proved entirely satisfactory, and she was placed on the route to Sacramento. On one of her first trips she brought a number of salmon from Sacramento, which sold readily at one dollar per pound. Some of the fishes brought the fine price of forty-five dollars.
The steamboats McKim and Senator were shortly afterwards put on the same route. All these vessels were crowded with passengers, and it was a matter of heartfelt gratulation that the time of transit was reduced by them from seven days to seventeen hours ! In modern time seventeen hours would not be regarded as a remarkably short passage. The charge for freight was forty dollars per ton to Sacramento.
An election to adopt the Constitution and to choose State officers, was held on the 13th of November. The number of ballots cast was 3169, of which five only were in the negative.
The winter of 1849-50 was one of extraordinary rain. The rains commenced on the 2d of November, and continued almost daily for some time. On the night of the 6th November, it is said 12 inches fell : but this is almost incredible. The streets, however, became next to impassable. Montgomery street, from Jackson to California, was a perfect quagmire. The incidents of that winter are vividly recorded in the minds of those who then dwelt in the city. As the streets grew more and more swampy, they were paved with brush wood, and whatever of rub- bish and waste merchandise could be had. But layer after layer of these materials disappeared, and still the mud was unfathomable. Mules with teams swamped as a matter of course ; and even mules without teams, in several instances, floun- dered and sunk into the invisible world, in spite of heroic efforts to rescue them. In numerous instances, men perfectly sober, got into the sloughs in attempting to cross the streets, and would have suffered martyrdom had not assistance been at hand. 'Tradition tells of one person who actually disappeared under these cir- cumstances. The intersection of Clay and Montgomery streets being a principal thoroughfare, was the scene of many interesting and exciting incidents. 'To cross on foot became completely impossible, until a submerged footway was constructed with bags of beans, damaged rice, bundles of tobacco, and a general assortment of spare merchandise. Over this invisible bridge, experienced navigators might suc- ceed in making their way. But wo to the unskilled wayfarer, who in attempting the path, deviated from the subterranean line of march. In the dearth of business and amusements, many citizens found agreeable employment in watching the pro-
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