San Francisco is part of the 1849 gold rush. Here is an excerpt from the Virtual Muesum of San Francisco:

In 1848, the school census showed a population of 575 males, 177 females and 60 children, a population of 812. The buildings numbered 200. there were two hotels, boarding houses, saloons and ten-pin alleys. Twelve mercantile houses were established, two more wharves were in the course of construction, the townspeople were hopeful, and the prospects of the city good. April 3, 1848, the first public school was opened.

As Spring advanced, the story of gold findings at Sutter’s mill began to spread widely. Very quickly the excitement leaped to fever heat. Gold became the irresistible magnet and nothing could check the insistent rush. Laborers, clerks, waiters, servants, all disappeared as if by magic, and melted into the stream of feverish beings headed for the slopes of the Sierra.

In the month of May 1848 more than 150 people left San Francisco, and the days added to the departures. On May 29, “The Californian” announced it could not issue the newspaper “until further notice” because all of its employees had quit. Other papers were quickly closed for the same reason. On July 15, the “Californian” managed to get out slip of a paper announcing “The Whole World at War” alluding to the Revolution in France. The military governor of California issued a proclamation calling on the people to assist authorities in apprehending Army and Navy deserters who had joined the gold rush. Public schools were ordered closed because of the rush to the gold fields…

Read the rest of the story here.

-Mick Orton
Marketing Director