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==History== Prior to European exploration, the location was populated for more than 5,000 years.<ref name=":0" /> The northern San Francisco peninsula was inhabited by the [[Ramaytush]], a linguistic sub-group of the [[Ohlone]] people. Their village of [[Ramaytush#Ramaytush tribes and villages|Urebure]] on [[San Bruno Creek]] was visited by the [[Gaspar de PortolΓ ]] expedition in 1769; remains of long-term (5,000+ years) inhabitancy and seasonal encampments have been examined at the [[Ramaytush#Ramaytush tribes and villages|Siplichiquin]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url=http://bayareanativesites.com/native-sites/siplichiquin-shell-mound/ |title=Siplichiquin Shell Mound β Bay Area Native Sites |access-date=November 27, 2017 |archive-date=December 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201041345/http://bayareanativesites.com/native-sites/siplichiquin-shell-mound/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> and Buckeye<ref name="bayareanativesites.com">{{Cite web |url=http://bayareanativesites.com/native-sites/buckeye-canyon-mound/ |title=Buckeye Canyon Mound β Bay Area Native Sites |access-date=November 27, 2017 |archive-date=December 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201034246/http://bayareanativesites.com/native-sites/buckeye-canyon-mound/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> shell-mounds on [[San Bruno Mountain]]. Charcoal-sampling indicates these ancient sites were actively occupied into the Spanish colonial period (late 1700s). The delta of [[Colma Creek]] was formerly an important habitat for the waterfowl known to be hunted by the Ramaytush in historic times, and archaeologic sites have been recorded near the creek.<ref name="bayareanativesites.com"/> The city's plan recognizes the existing remains of a village (CA-SMA-299) along [[El Camino Real (California)|El Camino Real]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/pages/1072/files/SoSanFrancisco.pdf |title=South San Francisco General Plan |publisher=[[California State Parks]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930110947/http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/pages/1072/files/SoSanFrancisco.pdf |archive-date=September 30, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1835, the area which is now South San Francisco was confirmed to be part of [[Rancho Buri Buri]], a large Mexican land grant to the Sanchez family, which they had used for cattle-ranching (with an easement for southbound traffic) for nearly a decade. While the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]] guaranteed the grant, taxes and legal-fees encouraged family-members to sell parts of the grant. Around that same time, the [[Peninsula Mile Houses|12-Mile House]] was built as a stop on the San Jose Stage road.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/mile-houses-of-the-peninsula/article_31314b99-255a-5ac7-9a83-90cf1fb646a5.html|title='Mile Houses' of the Peninsula}}</ref> In 1853 SF butcher [[Charles Lux]] and business partner Alfred Edmondson, purchased {{convert|1700|acre|km2|0}} in Rancho Buri Buri. In 1855 Lux bought another {{convert|1464|acre|km2|0}} of Buri Buri land and soon partnered with fellow San Francisco butcher and entrepreneur [[Henry Miller (rancher)|Henry Miller]], forming the stockyards and beef-raising firm of Miller & Lux.<ref>{{cite book |last=Igler |first=David |first2=Hero |last2=Rensch |first3=Ethel |last3=Rensch |first4=William N. |last4=Abeloe |title=Industrial cowboys: Miller & Lux and the Transformation of the Far West, 1850-1920 |year=2001 |publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-22658-6 }}</ref> Lux bought out Edmonson's interest in 1856 and founded the town of Baden (now a neighborhood of South San Francisco) near the 12-Mile House. In 1863, Baden became a station as the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad was built.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bayrailalliance.org/peninsula_commuter_rail_history/|title = Peninsula Commuter Rail History β BayRail Alliance}}</ref> The city of South San Francisco was conceived as an industrial suburb and was promoted by representatives of the [[Beef Trust]], a group including some of the country's largest meat packing firms. A city plan was put forward in 1888 by [[Gustavus Franklin Swift]], founder of the [[JBS USA|Swift & Company]] meat packing firm. The plan called for multiple individual meat-packing companies with a shared stockyard, as well as a residential area for employees. Swift proposed the name South San Francisco based on [[South Chicago, Chicago|South Chicago]] and [[South Omaha, Nebraska|South Omaha]], where the Swift company already had plants. In 1890 Peter E. Iler of [[Omaha, Nebraska]], an agent of the Beef Trust, purchased the Lux properties; ownership was transferred to the South San Francisco Land and Improvement Company in 1891. It was divided into industrial and residential districts, and the company installed lighting, sewer connections, and water distributions in the residential areas. A second corporation, eventually known as the Western Meat Company, set up stock yards and meat packing facilities on {{convert|80|acre|ha}} of bayfront property; the facility opened in 1892. Other industries soon moved in, including a pottery works, two brick companies, the paint manufacturer W.P. Fuller & Company, the South San Francisco Lumber Company, and the Pacific Jupiter Steel Company.<ref name="nrhp"/> The city of South San Francisco was incorporated in 1908 following a dispute with San Mateo County, which had blocked the construction of a smelter on San Bruno Point supported by the locals.<ref name = "nrhp" /> Following incorporation additional industries moved into the town, including two steel mills. A new City Hall was opened on November 11, 1920. By the 1920s the city was "the smokestack capital of the [[San Francisco Peninsula|Peninsula]]."<ref name = "Simon">{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/South-S-F-Sign-Wins-Status-Famous-hillside-2983079.php|title=South S.F. Sign Wins Status; Famous hillside slogan to be historic landmark|last=Simon|first=Mark|date=May 7, 1996|work=San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=April 3, 2013}}</ref> South San Francisco proudly called itself "The Industrial City", a motto immortalized in 1923 by a huge sign on a hillside overlooking the city. Industry remained the city's main economic focus through the 1950s. During the [[Great Depression]] the city maintained 35 industrial operations, including four meat-packing businesses, six iron or steel plants, a smelter for precious metals, seven equipment manufacturers of various kinds, two large paint factories, three other chemical works, and three food packing establishments. During World War II shipbuilding also became a significant operation.<ref name = "nrhp" /> From August 1940, until the end of the War, a total of 48 ships were built and launched at the [[Western Pipe and Steel Company|Western Pipe & Steel]] Shipyards.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Svanevik |first1=Michael |last2=Burgett |first2=Shirley |date=January 10, 2018 |title=Matters Historical: When the 'Industrial City' actually became industrious |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/01/09/matters-historical-when-the-industrial-city-actually-became-industrious/ |work=The Mercury News |location=Santa Clara, California |access-date=January 10, 2018 |archive-date=January 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110043936/https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/01/09/matters-historical-when-the-industrial-city-actually-became-industrious/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> At the end of the war the city's focus shifted away from "smokestack industries" toward light industry, warehousing, and residential development. The major manufacturers closed, and new development was focused on office parks, housing, high-rise hotels, and yacht harbors. The biotechnology giant [[Genentech]] opened in 1976, leading to South San Francisco's new identity as "the birthplace of biotechnology".<ref name="Hank">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/us/07bcintel.html?_r=0|title=Local Intelligence: Sign Hill|last=Pellissier|first=Hank|date=November 6, 2010|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 3, 2013}}</ref> The population grew to 66,105 in 21,870 households as of the 2020 census (effectively 7,183 occupants per square mile of city land).<ref>https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/southsanfranciscocitycalifornia/PST045223</ref>
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