Originally, San Francisco was a small Spanish fishing village called Yerba Buena (Good Herb). In 1847, when the West Coast region became a part of the US, it was renamed to San Francisco, after the old Franciscan mission located near it. The California Gold Rush in 1848 propelled the city into a period of rapid growth, transforming San Francisco into the largest city on the West Coast at the time.
With the California Gold Rush, San Francisco began to grow in population. A lot of immigrants came to the city to seek their fortunes, including a large number of immigrants from China and Japan. They established their own neighborhoods known as Chinatown and Japantown. Nowadays these areas are the largest Asian communities outside Asia.
The devastating earthquake and fire of 1906 changed the landscape of the city and ruined the wooden Victorian homes. Nevertheless, officials immediately set out on a plan to rebuild the city, with new parks, alleys, the current civic center complex, and landmarks such as the Coit Tower atop Telegraph Hill. In the 1930's Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge were conceived and built
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