nPostednon January 30, 2015
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nOncenupon a time there was a small settlement named Yerba Buena in thenSpanish colony called Las Californias. It was named “goodnherb” because of the mint plants growing all over the area.
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nThentown was located between the Presidio of San Francisco (a fort) andnthe Mission San Francisco de Asis (a church). It was started in 1776,nand by 1792, when English explorer George Vancouver sailed into SannFrancisco Bay, he mentioned staying “in a place they called YerbanBuena.”
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nInnthe early 1800s, the colony of Las Californias was split intonAlta (upper) and Baja (lower) California. And shortlynafter that split, Mexico won its independece from Spain. So AltanCalifornia, including Yerba Buena, became a part of Mexico.
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nButnit was a part of Mexico that was far from the capital, Mexico City –neven further than the rest of California! And little attention wasnpaid to the town with its port and plaza and trading post.
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nBynthe middles of the 1800s, English settlers had built homes andnstarted businesses in Yerba Buena, and when Mexico and the US lockednhorns in the Mexican American War over the control of, not onlynCalifornia, but Texas and the entire Southwest, in 1846, navy andnmarine officers claimed Alta California for the United States andnraised an American flag in the plaza of Yerba Buena.
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nOnnthis date in 1847, the Americans who now ruled Yerba Buena officiallynchanged its name to San Francisco. Just one year later gold wasndiscovered in California, and San Francisco almost immediately becamenthe most important city on the West Coast. It grew like wildfire!
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Inn1845, the sleepy Spanish town of Yerba Buena had just 400 people.nFifteen years later, the same town (but now called San Francisco) wasn56,000 people!
Inn1845, the sleepy Spanish town of Yerba Buena had just 400 people.nFifteen years later, the same town (but now called San Francisco) wasn56,000 people!n
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nYep,nthey do not call it the Gold Rush for nothing!
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Todaynthere are more than 800,000 people in San Francisco. That is a lot ofnpeople when you consider how small the city is! There are almostn18,000 people per square mile—more than six times the density of mynown city!
Todaynthere are more than 800,000 people in San Francisco. That is a lot ofnpeople when you consider how small the city is! There are almostn18,000 people per square mile—more than six times the density of mynown city!n
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nAlsonon this date:
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nFred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution
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nAnniversarynof the First Lifeboat
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nBubblenWrap Appreciation Day
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nBirthdaynof Thomas Rolfe, son of Pocahontas
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nAnniversarynof the discovery of the world’s tallest geyser
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nPlannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest pages on:
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nJanuaryn holidays
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nJanuaryn birthdays
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nFebruaryn holidays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in February
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