St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Church North Beach San Francisco 7 Stock Image

With the discovery of gold near San Francisco in 1849,the once sleepy hamlet of only several hundred suddenly exploded by many thousands with people from all around the world. People of many races,many religions and many languages. Many of them were Catholic,and although there already was the Mission Dolores Church,this was several unpaved and unmarked miles away. The St Francis Church first started in 1849,even before San Francisco was a city in 1850,or California became a state in 1850,and as a French church,not Italian. As the Italian population in North Beach grew,the French moved to their own,new church on Bush Street,closer to downtown. Today,it is also the oldest surviving building in North Beach,due in part to the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. With all of that,it was closed as a parish church in 1992,but declared as the National Shrine of St Francis in 1999. It is also a National Shrine. As seen 15 February 2023.