Apartments for Rent in San Francisco, CA (12,585 Rentals)

San Francisco was founded in June 1776 when the Spanish colonists first came to the Golden Gate and established a military base and a mission named after St. Francis of Assisi. Once Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, San Francisco became a Mexican city until 1846 when America claimed California as a state in the aftermath of the Mexican-American War. San Francisco remained a small town until 1849 when madness for gold drove a massive amount of Americans out west in search of wealth. The city continued to grow until April 1906 when a massive earthquake struck the city and erupted gas lines which caused fires to spring up all around the city. This catastrophe left the city devastated, but it was quickly rebuilt over the next twenty years. Due to the post-disaster reconstruction, San Francisco became a center of financial success, which is evident by the fact that San Franciscan banks remained in good condition during the stock market crashes that led to the Great Depression. It was during the Great Depression that the most famous of San Franciscan landmarks came into being: The Golden Gate Bridge. Alcatraz also became one of America’s most notorious prisons during this time. During World War II, the city was used as the departure point for most American soldiers going on their tours to the Pacific Theater. Upon their return, many soldiers settled down in San Francisco along with an influx of immigrants. Attitudes in San Francisco began to reflect a liberalistic idealism of harmonious citizenship that led to movements such as the Hippie counterculture to the modern social justice activists that reside in strong numbers.