Pacifica's History

Pacifica's Name

Pacifica means "peace" in Spanish. However, the City of Pacifica did not receive its name from its Spanish foreparents. Pacifica's name was the product of a contest held in 1957 to find a name for the newly incorporated coastal city. The winning name was based on an 80-foot statue by sculptor Ralph Stackpole, created as the theme lady for the Golden Gate International Exposition. The Exposition was held on Treasure Island in 1939-40. The statue was destroyed after the fair was over but two of the sculptor's working models have been saved. One is over the front stairs at City Hall; the other sits in the City Council Chambers.

Sources: Pacifica Library clipping file How Did Pacifica Get Its Name? by Grace McCarthy, Pacifica Tribune Tourist Guide, 1992. c 1995, June Langhoff. All rights reserved.

 

Portola's statue

The 9-foot statue was sculpted by Spanish artist Jose Maria Subirachs and his associate, Francesco Carulla. It was given to the City of Pacifica by the City of Catalonia in Spain in 1988. Catalonia was the birthplace of Don Gaspar de Portola, leader of the expedition responsible for the Europeandiscovery of San Francisco Bay. The explorers camped on the beach near thestatue site (erected in the public parking lot at Crespi Drive and HighwayOne.) and later journeyed up the hills to Sweeney Ridge. The Portola expedition was well documented. Over two hundred years ago, theCatalonian expeditionary force "missed their turnoff" at Monterey Bay andended up in what is now Pacifica. Aided only by a mariner's navigationhandbook of the Alta California coastline, Captain Gaspar de Portola and hisparty set out to map the land route from Baja California to Monterey Bay.Expecting to find a "fine harbor, sheltered from winds," they concluded thatthe rough seas they met at the mouth of the Salinas River could not possiblybe their goal and continued north. The party was running short of food and supplies. Many were sick with scurvyand had to be carried by litters, yet they still persisted. On October 31,1769, they reached the top of Montara Ridge. From there they could see theFarallons and Point Reyes and realized they were too far north. Beforeturning back, Portola set up camp in a peaceful valley (now Linda Mar) torest, explore and scout for much-needed food. In early November, SergeantJose Francisco Ortega climbed the hills northeast of San Pedro Valley anddiscovered "an enormous area of the sea or estuary which shot inland as faras the eye could see." A few days later, the entire Portola party traveled upthe ridge line to continue explorations.

Sources: Pacifica Library clipping file The Land Called Pacifica, by Dema Savage, 1983. Friends of the Sanchez Adobe, Pacifica, CA. Brochure:The Sanchez Adobe, San Mateo County Historical Society (C) 1995, June Langhoff. All rights reserved.

 

Pacifica History

Pacifica is one of the youngest communities in San Mateo County and yet its Spanish origins make it one of the oldest. Between 1906 and 1920, small settlements sprang up around the stations of the Ocean Shore Railway, but the coast north of Devil's Slide remained sparsely-populated until the post-warbuilding boom. Then, developers such as Oddstad and Doelger began a rush ofhome-building and thousands of small houses covered the valleys and crept upthe hillsides, each its own distinct community. In 1957, Pacifica became anincorporated city, consolidating the communities of Edgemar, Pacific Manor,Westview (Pacific Highlands), Sharp Park, Fairway Park, Vallemar, RockawayBeach, Linda Mar, and Pedro Point.

 

Pacifica Timeline

date unknown Ohlone Indians settle the villages of Pruristac (located in Linda Mar area) and Timigtac (located in the quarry between Mori's Point and Rockaway Beach)

• 1769 Portola Expedition encounters natives living in the village of Pruristac. First sighting of San Francisco Bay by Europeans.
• 1775 American Revolution begins
• 1776 Spanish begin building Mission San Francisco de Assis (Mission Dolores)
• 1776-1777 Spanish soldiers quarry limestone from the Calera Quarry to build the Presidio in San Francisco
• 1788 United States adopts the Constitution
• 1785 Spanish establish an Assistancia (outpost) in San Pedro Valley
• 1791 Ohlone village Pruristac annihilated by disease (possibly measles)
• 1796 Assistancia is abandoned
• 1834 Mexican government seizes all Mission lands (including most of present-day Pacifica)
• 1838 Severe earthquake occurs along the San Andreas fault
• 1839 Rancho San Pedro, which includes most of the land that will later become the city of Pacifica, is granted to Francisco Sanchez
• 1842 Don Francisco Sanchez is appointed Alcalde (mayor) of San Francisco
• 1846 Sanchez Adobe completed
• 1848 Gold discovered in California
• 1848 California is ceded to the United States
• 1851 Paddle steamer "Republic" struck Point San Pedro (saved)
• 1861 American Civil War begins
• 1869 San Pedro School District formed
• 1879 First road, a dirt trail, built along the coastside over San Pedro Mountain
• 1880 Mori farm house built
• 1894 Tobin post office opens
• 1900 Schooner "Bonita" sunk by a whale off Pacifica shores
• 1900 County Road Market opens on Palmetto Avenue (still in operation)
• 1905 Construction begins on the Ocean Shore Railroad
• 1906 San Francisco earthquake (magnitude 8.1 on Richter scale)
• 1906 Rolling stock, equipment, and rail belonging to the Ocean Shore railroad is tossed into the ocean by the shaking
• 1907 Mail delivery available in Salada Beach and Rockaway
• 1907 Little Brown Church built (now police station)
• 1907 Salada Mercantile built (now Chez D' Restaurant)
• 1907 Salada Beach post office opens
• 1908 The Salada Beach Castle built
• 1908 Rockaway Beach post office opens
• 1910 Schooner "James Rolph" wrecked on Pedro Point
• 1914 World War I begins
• 1914 First school built in Salada Beach (now City Hall)
• 1915 28-mile paved road from Colma to Half Moon Bay via San Pedro Mountain opens. The section over the mountain becomes known as the Pedro Grade Corkscrew.
• 1918-1919 Influenza epidemic kills over 20 million people worldwide
• 1919 United States passes the Eighteenth Amendment (prohibits the sale of liquor)
• 1926 Captain Robert Dollar builds "Dollaradio," a wireless radio station on Mussel Rock, designed to communicate with his steamships
• 1927 Charles Gust opens a hamburger stand at Rockaway Beach
• 1923 Feds raid speakeasy on Mori's Point, seize 24,000 cases of scotch (valued at $2 million)
• 1929 Construction begins on the Sharp Park Golf Course
• 1929 Stock market crash
• 1933 Prohibition ended
• 1935 Salada Beach and Brighton Beach band together and change their name to Sharp Park in hopes of improving their image
• 1935 Mrs. Honora Sharp gives 450 acres of land to San Francisco for recreational purposes (Sharp Park Golf Course and Sharp Park Archery Range, now in Pacifica) 1937 The Rockaway-Montara section of Highway 1 is completed (replacing Old Pedro Grade Corkscrew) The road is known as one of the most beautiful drives in the nation. 1938 Pacifica's first newspaper begins (named both the Sharp Park Breakers and First Township News)
• 1941 Japan bombs Pearl Harbor; America declares war
• 1941 President Roosevelt signs an executive order to round up all foreign nationals considered dangerous to the security of the United States. Over 2,500 German, Italian and Japanese people are placed in a detention camp in Sharp Park (now Sharp Park Archery Range)
• 1942 U.S. Coast Guard patrols beaches
• 1944 North Coast Water Department is established
• 1945 Battery 244 built on Milagra Ridge
• 1947 First tract homes built in Pacific Manor (sell for $7,500)
• 1950 Korean War begins
• 1950 Rockaway and San Pedro School Districts unify as the Laguna Salada Elementary School District
• 1955 Pacifica gets its first shopping center in Pedro Valley (Linda Mar)
• 1957 Threatened to be swallowed up by nearby San Bruno, Pacifica incorporates - nine communities join together (the vote was close: 2,601 Yes to 2,113 No)
• 1958? NIKE silos built at Milagra Ridge
• 1962 Linda Mar flooded
• 1969 First man on the moon
• 1972 Linda Mar flooded
• 1973 Pacifica Fishing Pier built
• 1974 NIKE base on Milagra Ridge closes
• 1982 Winter storms bring devastating floods and mud slides (3 die)
• 1983 Storm waves wash out Shelter Cove Road, residents must hike to homes (and still do)
• 1984 Sweeney Ridge (including the Portola Discovery Site) becomes part of the GGNRA
• 1985 First Pacifica Fog Fest (held annually last weekend in September) - weekend festival celebrates our changeable weather. Since September is usually sunny, visitors are always pleasantly surprised.
• 1987 Pedro Point surf club founded
• 1993 First all-woman City Council elected

Resources: The County Chronicles, by Michael Svanevik and Shirley Burgett, SecondEdition, 1990 (self-published pamphlet in Pacifica Library). From Frontier to Suburb, The Story of The San Mateo Peninsula, by AlanHynding 1982, Star Publishing Co., Belmont, CA. Peninsula Portrait, by Mitchell Postel, 1988, Windsor Publications, Inc. Northridge, CA. The Land Called Pacifica, by Dema Savage, 1983. Friends of the Sanchez Adobe, Pacifica, CA. Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia, Version 2,01VW, 1994, Compton's Learning Company