San Francisco was founded in 1776 but named so in 1846. Initially, the city was known as ‘Yerba Buena’, which is translated to ‘good herb’ in Spanish. This name was derived from the wild mint that grew around the areas where the first European settlers pitched their tents.
Would you believe that during the Great Depression, not a single bank in San Francisco failed? Businesses were doing so well that the city constructed the Golden Gate Bridge and the Oakland Bay Bridge during this tough period.
San Francisco Trivia Quiz Questions and Answers – 2022 – 2023
One of the interesting fun facts is that the famous Chinese Fortune Cookie was Invented in San Francisco. It was invented by Makoto Hagiwara, a Japanese immigrant in the 1890s.
In the same line of inventions, Levi Strauss was the one who invented denim jeans in San Francisco for the Gold Rush miners who needed durable yet comfortable clothing.
This Golden city has so many things to offer. Check out the following San Francisco trivia to find out!
1. San Francisco is in what state?
2. When was San Francisco incorporated?
3. The city of San Francisco was reputedly built on seven hills. What hill is the highest point in the city?
4. Who founded it?
5. At Fisherman’s Wharf, there is a pier that is popular with both tourists and sea lions. Which pier is it?
6. Which San Francisco street does not run diagonally relative to other streets?
7. Who was San Francisco named for?
8. What is the name of the tower shaped like a fire-hose nozzle that sits at the top of Telegraph Hill?
9. What is the highest elevation in San Francisco?
10. San Francisco county and city are located on the San Francisco Peninsula. What area of the peninsula is the city actually located on?
11. Which area was popular in the flower-power era of the 1960’s?
12. What is the lowest elevation?
13. What is bounded by Bay, Webster, Chestnut, and Laguna streets?
14. It covers an area of about how many square miles?
15. What is the other, lesser-known name given to the neighborhood, known as the Castro District?
16. In 2019, San Francisco was the county with the seventh-highest income in the United States, with a per capita income of what?
17. What bridge connecting the East Bay with the San Francisco Peninsula is seven miles long?
18. In the same year, San Francisco proper had a GDP of what?
19. San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge was completed in 1937. What body of water does this landmark span?
20. The San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland, CA Combined Statistical Area, with a GDP of $1.09 trillion as of 2019, is the country’s what?
21. What district is the northernmost?
22. In what city can you find Mission San Jose, one of the 21 missions founded by the Spanish during California’s early history?
23. San Francisco was ranked 5th in the world and second in the United States on what?
24. What island is a part of San Francisco, and was once a naval base, the location of a world’s fair, a residential area and a locale for the filming industry?
25. San Francisco was founded on June 29, 1776, when colonists from Spain established what?
26. The California Gold Rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, transforming an unimportant hamlet into a busy port making it what?
27. What is the name of the man-made island that the Bay Bridge passes by on its way from San Francisco to Oakland?
28. Between 1870 and 1900, approximately one-quarter of California’s population resided where?
29. Which district is the easternmost?
30. In 1856, San Francisco became a what?
31. This street cuts an east/west diagonal across the city and can be considered its main business street.
32. In 1906 three-quarters of the city was destroyed by what?
33. What is the other name of Interstate 880 which runs through most of the East Bay, from Oakland to San Jose?
34. In World War II, it was a major port of embarkation for service members shipping out to where?
35. It then became the birthplace of what in 1945?
36. On Mount Sutro there is a forest named Sutro Forest. What kind of trees were originally planted there in 1886 by Adolph Sutro?
37. Politically, the city votes strongly along what lines?
38. Coit Tower, at the top of Telegraph Hill, is said to resemble what?
39. A popular tourist destination, San Francisco is known for its landmarks, including what?
40. Which district is the westernmost?
41. The Transamerica Pyramid was the tallest building in San Francisco until 2016, when what building surpassed it?
42. What is the old army base near the Golden Gate Bridge, with lots of beautiful woods and old houses/barracks called?
43. Of all major cities in the United States, San Francisco has the second-highest percentage of residents with a what?
44. The California Gold Rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, transforming an unimportant hamlet into a busy port making it what?
45. In what city can you find Jack London Square?
46. Between 1870 and 1900, approximately one quarter of California’s population resided where?
47. Strawberry Hill is found on an island in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. It is located in the middle of which lake?
48. In 1856, San Francisco became a what?
49. Which district is the southernmost?
50. In 1906 three-quarters of the city was destroyed by what?
51. What is the official name of the often-maligned public transportation system that serves the City of San Francisco with light rail, buses and cable cars?
52. In World War II, it was a major port of embarkation for service members shipping out to where?
53. Where does Alameda County, one of several counties located in the East Bay, hold its annual county fair?
54. It then became the birthplace of what in 1945?
55. Lombard Street on Russian Hill is famous for what aspect of the road?
56. Politically, the city votes strongly along what lines?
57. In 1775, Juan Manuel de Ayala discovered ‘La Isla de los Alcatraces'(‘Alcatraz Island’), what does this translate to in English?
58. A popular tourist destination, San Francisco is known for its landmarks, including what?
59. Beginning around Gough Street, Geary intersects into Peter Yorke and _______.
60. The Transamerica Pyramid was the tallest building in San Francisco until 2016, when what building surpassed it?
61. Where might you expect to see Michael Tilson Thomas conducting Copland?
62. Of all major cities in the United States, San Francisco has the second-highest percentage of residents with a what?
63. What is the name of the fault line that runs through the East Bay Area?
64. Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants have played in San Francisco since moving from New York in what year?
65. What area northeast of San Francisco, sometimes called Little Italy, is known for its beatnik culture?
66. The Bay Bridge offers the only direct automobile connection to what?
67. Which two streets have tunnels?
68. Approximately how many people visit San Francisco each year?
69. What bridge connects the city with the East Bay and suffered a partial collapse during the earthquake of 1989?
70. How large is San Francisco?
71. What is the name of the rapid transit system that connects the East Bay with San Francisco and other parts of the Bay Area?
72. How many hills make up the San Francisco landscape?
73. One end of which of these famous bridges is located in San Francisco?
74. Where would you find the Trans-America Pyramid?
75. How high are San Francisco’s Twin Peaks?
76. Mission St., which runs from San Francisco and down through Daly City, is also known as:
77. What city was once called the Coney Island of the West Coast?
78. When does summer occur in San Francisco?
79. Which of these is the main airport for the San Francisco area? Mineta San Jose International Airport, Oakland International Airport, San Francisco International Airport.
80. About how much will a cab from San Francisco International to the heart of the city cost you?
81. How much does a BART ride cost?
82. The form of transportation most closely associated with San Francisco is what?
83. How much does it cost to ride a San Francisco cable car?
84. Why do you need to plan trips that involve crossing the bay bridge?
85. When are the Chinese New Year festivities held in San Francisco?
86. What is the name of the area in San Francisco where the Cherry Blossom Festival is held?
87. What is the name of San Francisco’s football team?
88. Which famous former prison is located on an island in San Francisco Bay?
89. How large is Golden Gate Park?
90. Presidio Golf Course was renovated by which of these famous golfers?
91. San Francisco is often referred to by which of these nicknames?
92. This might come as a surprise, but Lake Merritt isn’t really a lake. What is it?
93. The opening lines of Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay,” were literally written on a dock. What kind and where?
94. The Berkeley Pier originally extended 3½ miles into the bay so cars could drive onto a San Francisco-bound ferry. In 1936, that traffic stopped. Why?
95. How deep, on average, is the San Francisco Bay?
96. What is the longest bridge to span the bay?
97. The first San Francisco Bay bridge, which opened in 1923, was considered a failure because?
98. The Bay Bridge is protected by?
99. California Fish & Wildlife introduced wild turkeys to the state in 1959. Why?
100. Why have sea lions lounged around San Francisco’s Pier 39 since 1990?
101. Which city does the Bay Bridge connect to San Francisco?
102. What were Six Flags the Discovery Kingdom called when it moved to Vallejo?
103. Which celebrity was NOT born in San Francisco? Courtney Love, Steve Martin, Clint Eastwood, or Josh Hartnett
104. Humphrey, the wayward humpback whale, swam into the bay and up the Delta in 1985. In 2007, another pair of humpbacks made a similar journey. What were their names?
105. Which is the most crooked street in San Francisco?
106. Which famous band is NOT from the Bay area? Counting Crows, Green Day, Primus, Sonic Youth.
107. In the 1970s, most of the apex predator population living on Mount Diablo was wiped out. It’s since made a comeback. What is it?
108. Back in the days of frigid Candlestick Park games, the Giants gave out pins to faithful fans who toughed it out through extra-innings. What were these pins called?
109. Which famous solo musical artist is NOT from the Bay area? Tupac Shakur, Chris Isaak, Bob Dylan or John Lee Hooker.
110. There have been just two great left-handed quarterbacks in the Football Hall of Fame and both are Bay Area legends. Name the QBs.
111. Which famous politician was once the Mayor of San Francisco?
112. Before the Sharks swam into San Jose, the Bay Area had another hockey team based in Oakland. What was its name and what happened to it?
113. What was Oakland’s original name?
114. Which neighborhood is famous for its Italian population?
115. Which former President became a Bay area University President after his Term in Office?
116. How did Sunnyvale get its optimistic name?
117. When was the last time San Francisco had a Republican Mayor?
118. Napa’s name was originally spelled Nappa. What happened to the second P?
119. Which celebrity never lived in San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury neighborhood?
120. San Francisco’s iconic Sutro Tower hasn’t had a major paint job in more than 20 years. Why?
121. Which two Native American tribes originally lived in the San Francisco Bay area?
122. MC Hammer was originally an Oakland A’s ball boy. Where did the Hammer name come from?
123. Walt Disney was one of Hewlett-Packard’s first customers. He bought eight audio oscillators to test recording equipment for which movie?
124. How much were the Hell’s Angels paid to provide protection at the infamous “Gimme Shelter” Altamont Speedway Free Festival concert in 1969?
125. When Super Bowl XIX was played at the old Stanford Stadium, which relatively new company gave away seat cushions for the wooden stadium benches?
126. What now-mega event first launched at Baker Beach in 1986?
127. Where did Francis Ford Coppola write most of the “The Godfather” screenplay?
128. What Bay Area community bills itself as California’s First Hollywood?
129. KCBS Radio got its start when Charles David “Doc” Herrold began regularly scheduled broadcasts in 1912. What was the station’s radio identification?
130. Which California winery’s triumph at the 1976 Judgement of Paris put California and its Napa Valley, on the global wine map?