Loading map...

1956 Map of San Francisco North

Name: 1956 Topographic Map of San Francisco North
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1969
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1969

About this map

The Golden Gate Bridge anchors this mid-century portrait of the peninsula, spanning the narrows between Fort Baker Military Reservation and the Presidio Military Reservation. The map details a city in a period of significant infrastructural expansion, capturing the early footprints of the Central Skyway and James Lick Memorial Freeway as they begin to thread through the dense grid of the Western Addition and Mission District. Purple revisions from 1968 highlight the evolving urban landscape, including new developments near China Basin and along the northeastern waterfront.

Industrial and civic life is centered around landmarks like Fishermans Wharf, the Ferry Building, and the massive Mission Rock Terminal. To the west, the greenery of Golden Gate Park provides a sharp contrast to the tightly packed blocks of Chinatown and Nob Hill. Notable educational and religious institutions, from St Patrick Sch to Polytechnic HS, are meticulously placed, offering a detailed record of the city's social geography before the late-twentieth-century shifts.