The NPR member public radio stations in San Francisco are KQED which broadcasts on FM at 88.5 MHz, and KALW, broadcasting at 91.7 MHz. Both stations also stream online. Read more...
The Presidio of San Francisco is a 1,491-acre former US Army installation in the northwest corner of the city, at the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge, transferred to the National Park Service when it was vacated by the military in 1994. Today, the Presidio is a thriving urban park with a unique mix of residential communities, businesses, historic Read more...
A cast stone sculpture of British nurse Florence Nightingale stands outside Laguna Honda Hospital in Twin Peaks, San Francisco. Nightingale is widely credited as being one of the pioneers of modern nursing. A plaque on the statue reads: In memory of Florence Nightingale, ‘The Founder of Professional Nursing’. Designed and created by the late David Edstrom. Dedicated National Hospital Day, Read more...
Commercial production of dynamite in the US started in 1868 at the Giant Powder Works near the site of what is now Glen Park Recreation Center in San Francisco. Producing dynamite under licence from Alfred Nobel, the short-lived factory was destroyed in an explosion in November 1869. Read more...
The lighthouse on Alcatraz Island is still operational with its light beacon rotating once every five seconds as a navigational aid for shipping in San Francisco Bay. It has been automated since November 22nd, 1963, the same year the island’s penitentiary closed. Read more...
Robert Franklin Stroud, nicknamed the Birdman of Alcatraz, was a convicted murderer, imprisoned in US federal penitentiaries continuously from 1909 until his death in 1963. First incarcerated in 1909 on McNeil Island, Washington, for 12 years for manslaughter, Stroud gained a reputation for violent behavior. In 1912 he moved to the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, where, in 1916, he Read more...
Rob Hill Campground, the only campsite within the city of San Francisco, is situated in a forested area of the Presidio above Baker Beach. This group campsite is open seasonally between April 1 and October 31, and has restrooms but no showers, no RV camping and no hookups. Advance credit card reservations are required and the maximum stay is three Read more...
During its 29 years as a federal penitentiary, 14 escape attempts were made from Alcatraz Island by a total of 36 inmates, of which 2 prisoners tried twice. Official reports state that 23 were caught, 6 were shot and killed, 2 drowned trying to swim from the island, and five are listed as “missing and presumed drowned”. Only one, John Read more...
Notorious American gangster Al Capone spent 4½ years in the prison on Alcatraz Island after being transferred there in August 1934 from the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta. Capone was serving an 11-year sentence for tax evasion, during which time his mental health seriously declined due to syphilis contracted prior to his incarceration. He spent his final year at Alcatraz on Read more...
The last registered prisoner at Alcatraz was Frank Clay Weatherman, who arrived on December 14, 1962. He was also the last of the final prisoners to board the boat leaving Alcatraz Island when the prison closed on March 21, 1963. Read more...
The name Alcatraz Island originates from a name given to one of the islands in San Francisco Bay during Spanish rule of California, La Isla de los Alcatraces. That translates to ‘The Island of the Gannets’ but it is widely suggested that the original meaning was ‘The Island of the Pelicans’, based on an archaic Spanish word for pelican, alcatraz. Read more...
Mount Davidson is the highest natural point in San Francisco, at 928 feet (or 283 meters) above sea level. At the summit, there is a 103-foot (or 31.4 meter) concrete cross which is illuminated twice a year for a prayer service on Easter Sunday and on April 24th, Armenian Genocide Memorial Day. Read more...
BART trains cross San Francisco Bay through an underwater tunnel running between downtown San Francisco’s Embarcadero station near the Ferry Building, and West Oakland station. Known as the Transbay Tube, the 3.6 mile (or 5.8 kilometer) immersed tube sits on the Bay floor and contains two rail tunnels separated by a central pedestrian and maintenance gallery. Read more...
The Sand Ladder steps from the north end of Baker Beach emerge on the California Coastal Trail that runs alongside Lincoln Boulevard. Heading north on this trail for approximately 1 mile will lead to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. Read more...
Baker Beach in San Francisco has a clothing-optional area at the very north end of the beach. It is a public beach that attracts mostly clothed visitors, but nude beachgoers frequent the northernmost part nearest the Golden Gate Bridge, so be warned if visiting with children. Read more...
The Burning Man festival started as a gathering held on San Francisco’s Baker Beach to mark the 1986 summer solstice. On June 22nd, 1986, Larry Harvey and Jerry James burned a 9-foot wooden human effigy they built at the northern end of Baker Beach, in the presence of a small group of friends. While the beach was already a place Read more...
Dogs are permitted at Baker Beach in San Francisco, and are allowed off-leash in some areas provided they are under voice control at all times. Off-leash dogs are allowed on the beach north of Lobos Creek but only if they will respond immediately to commands to return to a leash when called. Dogs must be on a leash at all Read more...
Patty Hearst was involved in an armed robbery of the Sunset District branch of Hibernia Bank at Noriega and 22nd Avenue in San Francisco on April 15th, 1974. Hearst, the granddaughter of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, participated in the raid with members of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) who, two months prior, had kidnapped her at gunpoint from her Read more...
The Transbay Tube, the underwater rail tunnel carrying Bay Area Rapid Transit’s subway lines under San Francisco Bay between San Francisco and Oakland reaches a maximum depth of 135 feet (or 41 meters) below sea level Read more...
The building under the San Francisco side of the Golden Gate Bridge is Fort Point, built by the US Army at the height of the Gold Rush between 1853 and 1861 as part of a defense system to protect the harbor from foreign attack. When it was no longer needed as a defense position, it served as barracks and military Read more...