DK Travel : San Francisco : Top 10 Historic Figures

San Francisco : Top 10 Historic Figures

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1. Junipero Serra

This 18th-century Spanish cleric traveled up and down California establishing missions, including Mission Dolores.
2. John C. Fremont

Instrumental in the US annexation of California in the mid-1800s, it was Fremont who dubbed the Bay straits the “Golden Gate”.
3. John Muir

Muir was a keen promoter of the National Parks movement. The Muir Woods are named in his honor.
4. Leland Stanford

One of the “Big Four” who masterminded the Transcontinental railroad also founded Stanford University (see Palo Alto and Stanford).
5. Mark Hopkins

Another of the “Big Four” who struck it super-rich and lived on Nob Hill.
6. Charles Crocker

Another “Big Four” accomplice. The Crocker Galleria recalls his legacy (see Crocker Galleria, Top 10 Shopping Areas).
7. A.P. Giannini

Founder in 1904 of the Bank of Italy, later the Bank of America, Giannini financed the Golden Gate Bridge.
8. Harvey Milk

The first openly gay politician to become a member of the Board of Supervisors was assassinated in 1978.
9. Dianne Feinstein

One of the movers and shakers of San Francisco politics in recent decades, she became a US Senator in 1992.
10. Jerry Brown

Buddhist monk and mayor of Oakland, this intellectual free spirit ran for president.