Daly City

By Bunny Gillespie and Dave Crimmen

A haven for refugees after San Francisco s devastating 1906 earthquake and fire, Daly City incorporated in 1911 with a population of 2,000. With more than 100,000 residents, it is now the largest city in San Mateo County. Adjacent to San Francisco, the Golden Gate, and San Francisco Bay, Daly City has been The Gateway to the Peninsula for over 150 years.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: May 23, 2011
• ISBN: 9781439624319

Bunny Gillespie

Author Bunny Gillespie and her husband Ken are the official historians for the City of Daly City. They helped established the History Guild Daly City/Colma and maintain a museum at the main Daly City Library. Her previous works include The Great Daly City Historical Trivia Book, published in 1986.

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Poultney.

INTRODUCTION

Daly City is located in the northwest portion of San Mateo County in Northern California, immediately adjacent to the southern boundary of the City and County of San Francisco. Daly City is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and almost touches San Francisco Bay on its east side. Daly City’s incorporation was achieved in March 1911. The population as well as the size of Daly City has changed dramatically during its first 100 years.

In 1939, when Daly City’s first commercial and civic directory was published, the area of the city was 1.08 square miles. Today, the city covers approximately 7.56 square miles.

Because of Daly City’s rich ethnic mix, it is sometimes referred to as a Community of Many Cultures. Other names given to the area have included La Portezuela, Sand Hills, Vista Grande, Daly’s Hill, Gateway of the Peninsula, Gateway to the Peninsula, and Top of the Hill. Daly City’s residents include the second largest Asian community in the United States, second only to Honolulu, Hawaii, among cities with populations of over 100,000. The US Census of 2000 reported Daly City’s ethnicity as Asian, 50 percent; Caucasian, 26 percent; black, 5 percent; Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, 1 percent; and others, 18 percent. Residents with Philippine heritage number around 50,000, the largest Filipino community outside of Manila. In Daly City’s earliest days, pioneer heritage was mostly attributed to Ireland, Germany, and Italy.

As well as achieving recognition for ethnic diversity, Daly City has also achieved recognition for population figures. In 1911, when the city incorporated, the population was estimated to be 2,000. That number has steadily grown, reaching 3,779 in 1920, 7, 838 in 1930, and 12,000 in 1939. According to the 2000 US Census and 2010 estimates, Daly City’s population hovers around 108,383. The greatest spurts of population came immediately after World War II and in 1948, when the vast suburban development of Westlake was annexed to the city. In 1997, Daly City was noted as San Mateo County’s most densely populated community. The appellation