The San Francisco Bay Discovery Site is a marker commemorating the first recorded

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an sighting of San Francisco Bay. In 1769, the

Portola expedition Portola may refer to: * ''Portola'' (album), a 1998 album by Rose Melberg * Portola, California * Portola, San Francisco, California People with the surname * Gaspar de Portolá Gaspar de Portolá y Rovira (January 1, 1716 – October 10, 1 ...

traveled north by land from

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, seeking to establish a base at the Port of Monterey described by

Sebastian Vizcaino Sebastian may refer to: People * Sebastian (name), including a list of persons with the name Arts, entertainment, and media Films and television * ''Sebastian'' (1968 film), British spy film * ''Sebastian'' (1995 film), Swedish drama film ...

in 1602. When they reached Monterey, however, they were not sure it was the right place and decided to continue north. The party reached

San Pedro Creek San Pedro Creek (Spanish for ''St. Peter'') is a perennial stream in the City of Pacifica, San Mateo County, California in the San Francisco Bay Area whose tributaries originate on Sweeney Ridge in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Mont ...

on October 31 and camped there for four nights, while scouts led by

José Francisco Ortega José Francisco Ortega (1734 – February 1798) was an indigenous Californio soldier and early settler of Alta California. He joined the military at the age of twenty-one and rose to the rank of sergeant by the time he joined the Portola expedition ...

climbed Sweeney Ridge, where they could see over the ridge toward the east, and so became the first Europeans to see San Francisco Bay on November 1. The scouts returned on November 3, and led the entire party up to the ridge on November 4.

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

missionary

Juan Crespi ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

noted in his diary, "from the summit of a peak we beheld the great estuary or arm of the sea." After seeing the immense bay to the east, and having learned from the scouts that further progress to the north would be blocked by the

Golden Gate The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by t ...

, the party turned southeast and descended toward the bay. Sweeney Ridge is located in northern

San Mateo County San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City is the county seat, and the third most populated city following Daly ...

and is now a part of the

Golden Gate National Recreation Area The Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) is a U.S. National Recreation Area protecting of ecologically and historically significant landscapes surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area. Much of the park is land formerly used by the United ...

. The site is both a

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...

and a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

. The spot chosen for the marker is somewhat arbitrary, as the precise location where Portola's party reached the summit of the ridge is not known. The landmarked area encompasses two of the highest knolls on the ridge. As of October 2020, the marker has been vandalized, with Portolà’s name and the date of the discovery chiseled away.

References

External links

*
Visiting information
{{San Francisco Bay watershed The Californias History of the San Francisco Bay Area History of San Mateo County, California Geography of San Mateo County, California National Historic Landmarks in the San Francisco Bay Area National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in San Mateo County, California Tourist attractions in San Mateo County, California Pacifica, California San Bruno, California

See also

References

External links