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SAN FRANCISCO: A must visit, there were highlights, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Cable Cars, they're all there however the general state of the city and the terribly sad state of many homeless people living on the streets left me confused. The city is a major financial hub with over thirty Financial Institutions based there and the city claims fifteenth place in the top twenty global financial centres, the haves and the have nots is clearly evident on the Streets of San Francisco. The early history of San Francisco is very interesting, in 1776 the Spanish established a fort and a mission named for Francis of Assisi near the Golden Gate Bridge location. The 1848 California Gold Rush witnessed a massive increase in population and building works, however the San Francisco earthquake and resultant fires of 1906 necessitated a rebuild. The city was the major embarkation point for American Servicemen deployed to the Pacific Theatre during World War 2, post war the city endured massive immigration, liberalized attitudes and became the hub for the gay rights movement and liberal attitudes.
GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE: Construction of the bridge commenced in January 1933 and was officially opened as part of a week of celebrations on the 27th May 1937. The roadway system is suspended from two cables that pass through the main towers, the cables are anchored in concrete at each end. The cables are made up from 27,572 strands of wire, (refer cross section picture below) and 128,748km of wire was used to form the cables. The rivet's used in construction exceeded 1,200,000. The bridge provides the only northerly route out of San Francisco forming part of US Route 101 and California Route 1.
ALCATRAZ - 'THE ROCK': Alcatraz did not start out as a penitentiary, the U.S. Army initially assessed the suitability of Alcatraz Island for coastal batteries to protect the approaches to San Francisco Bay. In 1853 the U.S. Corps of Engineers commenced fortification of the island, upwards of one hundred cannons were in place by 1866 and during the American Civil War the island was utilized for storage of the San Francisco Arsenal for storage of firearms, despite all the fortifications and cannons Alcatraz never fired a single shot offensively. The first real hint of the future use for the Island was the imprisonment of Confederate sympathizers during the American Civil War Alcatraz became a Western U.S. Military Prison in March 1907, this usage ceased in 1933 and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons took over. The Island became a Federal Bureau of Prisons in August 1934 and over some twenty nine years of operation the Prison held many convicted criminals including Al Capone, Robert Stroud (the birdman of Alcatraz), George (machine gun) Kelly and Arthur 'Doc' Barker. The 'cost per day' of housing a prisoner and 'sewerage discharge' into the San Francisco Bay were significant factors in the closure of the Prison on March 21st, 1963. On November 20th, 1969 a group of Native Americans occupied the island claiming ownership on the basis of the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) between the U.S. Government and the Sioux Indian Tribe. The occupation lasted until the 11th June 1971, during that time numerous buildings were damaged or destroyed by fire, graffiti from the occupation era is still visible on the island, (refer image below). The occupation by Native Americans was not in vane, their demands during the occupation ultimately witnessed the U.S. Government returning excess and unused land to the Taos, Yakama, Navajo and Washoe Native American tribes.
SAN FRANCISCO - CITY TOUR:
MORE CALIFORNIA COVERAGE: Please continue my 'California coverage' by selecting from the following pages...
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I LOVE NEW TECHNOLOGY, TABLETS, LAPTOPS, DIGITAL CAMERAS, MOBILE PHONES/WIRELESS BROADBAND, GPS, ETC. ALL SO COOL AND 'PORTABLE'......
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