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History

History Of Daly City

Much of Daly City occupies what were original Spanish land grants, largely unoccupied in the years that followed the sighting of San Francisco Bay by members of an exploratory party led by Gaspar de Portola in 1769. A military post, the Presidio, was established near the entrance to the bay, and with a mission founded near a small lake in the center of what became San Francisco, European settlers inhabited this north peninsula.

In the early 1850’s a few settlers claimed lands on the old Spanish grants. Among the first was a blacksmith named Robert Thornton, who set up business near the south end of San Francisco’s Lake Merced. He was of Irish extraction, as were most of the early score or so of settlers nearby. A moment of fame occurred when a duel between two prominent California political leaders was fought not too far from the county line. David Broderick, U.S. senator from California, and David Terry, former chief justice of the State of California, engaged in a period of insults over the role of California as a free or slave state. Their arguments set up two camps in San Francisco, and the duel was considered at the time to be the “first shot to the Civil War.”

In the early 1860’s a railroad ran south to San Jose, passing around the westerly edge of Daly’s ranch. Stores, hotels, butcher shops, and other businesses blossomed at the bottom of the hill, a cluster of activity that embraced a new schoolhouse, railway station, and a Catholic church. The north peninsula was growing in population. Many of the newcomers were Italians, who managed to grow crops where others had failed. By the early 1890’s streetcars were running from San Francisco to communities as far south as San Mateo, coming right over Daly’s Hill, as a stop was appropriately named. Daly moved into San Francisco in 1885, seeking better schooling for his children, but maintained his business at the “top-of-the-hill.” He helped establish a bank in the new community, donated funds for the first library, and was a political leader

He subdivided his property in 1907, and streets were quickly laid out. Many of the original houses were dragged out from mass refugee camps on public lands in San Francisco. A drayer named H.H. Smith bought a number of 14′ x 20′ temporary houses, dragged them out and set them on inexpensive lots on many locations across the county line.

Prior to the earthquake, dog racing was a big attraction, with trains and streetcars bringing thousands to the sparsely-populated hills of the area across the county line. Boxing matches were held in quickly-built arenas near the edge of San Francisco, where gambling was less restricted than in the City.

Now the pressure to become a city was growing, and by 1911 there was sufficient support to incorporate. By a slim margin a new town was voted into San Mateo County. It was named Daly City, in honor of the residents’ good friend John Daly.

Streets were paved, sewers and a water system were introduced, police and fire protection became a reality, and Daly City was on its way. More schools were built, the city council erected a City Hall half a block away from Daly’s former dairy ranch, and other subdivisions began to fill in the gap tooth’s with new housing.

Prior to the earthquake, dog racing was a big attraction, with trains and streetcars bringing thousands to the sparsely-populated hills of the area across the county line. Boxing matches were held in quickly-built arenas near the edge of San Francisco, where gambling was less restricted than in the City.

After World War II moderate-cost housing began in Daly City as well as in most other Bay Area communities. A San Francisco builder, Henry Doelger, purchased some 600 acres of sand dunes and cabbage patches that occupied much of the land between the original Daly City’s westerly edge to the ocean. He built a community called Westlake, which was annexed to Daly City in 1948

He doubled his land purchases and continued building west and south. An earlier settlement, Broadmoor Village, had been under construction for some years but was not part of any Daly City annexation. Other builders contributed thousands of homes and satellite shopping centers. A huge hospital, Seton Medical Center, came originally from San Francisco as Mary’s Help Hospital and is now a prominent landmark on the Daly City scene. Regional shopping centers link St. Francis Height and Serramonte subdivisions.

Outside the War Memorial Building on Mission Street there is a mission bell commemorating the original route of El Camino Real, “The King’s Highway,” which has not changed by more than a few feet from the original dirt path used by the padres and soldiers more than 200 years ago.