Schülervortrag: San Francisco
San Francisco is after Los Angeles and San Diego the third greatest
town in the federal state of California. It is situated in the north of a hilly
peninsula which seperates the Pacific Ocean from the San Francisco Bay. The
north of San Francisco is limited through the Golden Gate. The original
inhabitants and owners were the Costanoan Indians. Not until 1769 a group of
Spaniards discovered the San Francisco Bay. In 1776 a village named Yerba Buena
was founded which was taken by the Mexicans later. But when the USA bought
Yerba Buena from the Mexicans for 500.000$ in 1846, the name was changed into
San Francisco. The first boom which S.F. experienced was the gold rush in the
year 1848. On 24th January James Marshall discovered gold in Coloma. When the
outside world heard that thousands of people streamed to S.F. to continue their
travel at the Sacramento River.
To the end of the year 1849 the city of gold grew to 25.000 people. In
1850 S.F. became the capital of California. Another recovery was the
completition of the Central Pacific Railroad in 1869 which drove from the east
coast to S.F.. Until 1900 the small settlement grew to a city with 340.000
people. The 18th April was the blackest day in the history of the city. An
earthquake distroyed a big part of S.F.. Today there live 700.000 people.
100.000 blacks there are many Asians whose part of the whole population is
higher than in other American cities: 14.000 Japanese, 30.000 Filipinos and
85.000 Chinese who built Chinatown.San Francisco`s Chinatown is the greatest
home for Chinese outside Asia.Besides Chinatown is the most densely populated
part of S.F.In S.F. you don`t need your car.
The most important means of public transport are the buses,but the most
famous are the cable cars.The first cable car was inserted in 1873.The airport
in the south of the city is one of the greatest airports of the United
States.S.F. has a mild climate.No snow in the winter and in the summer it isn`t
very hot.The wormest month is September with maximum temperatures of 23
degrees.A peculiarity of S.F. are the fogs,which has been forming along the
coast.To noon the city and the Golden Gate Bridge are hidden in sea-fog.The
bridge was opened in 1937 after 4 years of difficult construction.Today it`s
the second-longest bridge with 2,8 km and you need one hour to go over the
bridge.Another sight of S.F. is Alcatraz-Island.The prison island lies two
kilometers away from the coast in the bay.Since 1973 you can visit the
prison.The ten highest buildings of S.F. are in the Financial Center.Outside of
this part no one is allowed to build any other skyscrapers.The two highest
buildings are the Transamerica Pyramid (260m) and the Bank of America
(232m).That`s the greatest bank of the United States.In contrast with Los
Angeles S.F. was never a good industrial town.But the tourism is very important
for the economy.S.F. is one of the most popular Olestinations of the USA.
