San Bruno, California
Encyclopedia
San Mateo County, California
San Mateo County is a county located in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. It covers most of the San Francisco Peninsula just south of San Francisco, and north of Santa Clara County. San Francisco International Airport is located at the northern end of the county, and...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 41,114 at the 2010 census.
The city is adjacent to San Francisco International Airport and Golden Gate National Cemetery.
Geography
San Bruno is located at 37.625288°N 122.425266°W. The city is located between South San FranciscoSouth San Francisco, California
South San Francisco is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, located on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area...
and Millbrae
Millbrae, California
Millbrae is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, just west of San Francisco Bay, with San Bruno on the north and Burlingame on the south. The population was 21,532 at the 2010 census.-History:...
, near San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport is a major international airport located south of downtown San Francisco, California, United States, near the cities of Millbrae and San Bruno in unincorporated San Mateo County. It is often referred to as SFO...
and about 12 miles (19.3 km) south of downtown San Francisco.
According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 5.5 square miles (14.2 km²), all of it land. The city spreads from the mostly flat lowlands near San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains
Santa Cruz Mountains
The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central California, United States. They form a ridge along the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco, separating the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco Bay and the Santa Clara Valley, and continuing south,...
, which rise to more than 600 feet (182.9 m) above sea level (183 m) in Crestmoor and more than 700 feet (213 m) above sea level in Portola Highlands. San Bruno City Hall sits at an official elevation of 41 feet (12.5 m) above sea level.
Portions of Mills Park, Crestmoor, and Rollingwood are very hilly and feature some canyons and ravines. Creeks, many of them now in culverts, flow from springs in the hills toward San Francisco Bay. Just west of Skyline Boulevard is San Andreas Lake
San Andreas Lake
San Andreas Lake is a reservoir adjacent to the San Francisco Peninsula cities of Millbrae and San Bruno in San Mateo County, California. It is situated directly on the San Andreas Fault, which is named after the lake.- History :...
, outside the city limits, which gave its name to the famous San Andreas Fault
San Andreas Fault
The San Andreas Fault is a continental strike-slip fault that runs a length of roughly through California in the United States. The fault's motion is right-lateral strike-slip...
in 1895. The lake is actually one of several reservoirs used by the San Francisco Water Department, providing water to San Francisco and some communities in San Mateo County, including San Bruno west of I-280.
Climate
San Bruno enjoys a mild Mediterranean climateMediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
characterized by cool, dry summers and chilly, wet winters.
Since 1927, the National Weather Service
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...
(formerly the U.S. Weather Bureau) has maintained a weather station at the nearby San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport is a major international airport located south of downtown San Francisco, California, United States, near the cities of Millbrae and San Bruno in unincorporated San Mateo County. It is often referred to as SFO...
(formerly Mills Field). According to the official records, January is the coldest month with an average high of 55.9 °F (13.3 °C) and an average low of 42.9 °F (6.1 °C). Frost occurs occasionally during the winter months; snowfall is very rare, but 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) fell on January 21, 1962 (with as much as four inches (10 cm) reported in Crestmoor). Measurable snowfalls also occurred on December 11, 1932 and February 5, 1976. In recent years, traces of snow have been reported on December 27, 1988; January 8, 1989; and February 24, 1996.
Freezing temperatures occur on an average of only 1.3 days annually. The coldest winter temperature on record was 20 °F (−6.7 °C) on December 11, 1932, the same day 1.0 inch (2.5 cm) of snow fell. A week-long cold spell in December 1972 caused hard freezes throughout the area, damaging trees and plants and causing some water pipes to break; the temperature dropped as low as 24 °F (−4.4 °C) at the airport and 20 °F (−6.7 °C) in Crestmoor, which also reported snow flurries several times that week.
September is the warmest month with an average high of 72.7 °F (22.6 °C) and an average low of 55.1 °F (12.8 °C). Temperatures exceed 90 °F (32 °C) on an average of 4.0 days annually. Fog and low overcast are common during the night and morning hours in the summer months, which are generally very dry except for occasional light drizzle from the fog. On rare occasions moisture moving up from tropical storms has produced thunderstorms or showers in the summer. Gusty westerly winds are also common in the afternoon during the summer. The highest summer temperature was 106 °F (41.1 °C) on June 14, 1961, breaking a record of 104 °F (40 °C) set in June 1960. A high of 105 °F (40.6 °C) was recorded on July 17, 1988, and a high of 103 °F (39.4 °C) was recorded on September 14, 1971. Until August 1, 1993, it had never reached 100 °F (37.8 °C) in August, which is one of the foggier months in the area. Due to thermal inversions, summer temperatures in the higher hills are often much higher than at the airport.
Thunderstorms occur several times a year, mostly during the winter months, but are usually quite brief. Total annual precipitation, most of which falls from November to April, ranges from 20.11 inches (51.08 cm) at the nearby National Weather Service
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...
station at San Francisco International Airport to over 32 inches (81.3 cm) in the higher hills (according to observations by Gayle Rucker for the Army Corps of Engineers and Robert E. Nylund for the U.S. Geological Survey from 1962 to 1985). Nylund also took temperature observations for several years and published weekly weather reports in the San Bruno Herald from 1966 to 1969, which were included in official reports for the Golden Gate National Cemetery
Golden Gate National Cemetery
Golden Gate National Cemetery is a U.S. National Cemetery, located in the city of San Bruno, San Mateo County, 12 miles south of San Francisco. Because of the name and location, it is frequently confused with San Francisco National Cemetery, which dates to the 19th century and is in the Presidio...
. The annual average days with measurable precipitation is 65.2 days. The most rainfall in a month at the airport was 13.64 inches (34.65 cm) in February 1998, and the most rainfall in 24 hours was 5.59 inches (14.2 cm) on January 4, 1982. Nylund reported 6.09 inches (15.5 cm) in Crestmoor during a 24-hour period in January 1967. Winter storms are often accompanied by strong southerly winds.
2010
The 2010 United States Census reported that San Bruno had a population of 41,114. The population densityPopulation density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 7,505.0 people per square mile (2,897.7/km²). The racial makeup of San Bruno was 20,350 (49.5%) White, 942 (2.3%) African American, 246 (0.6%) Native American, 10,423 (25.4%) Asian, 1,377 (3.3%) Pacific Islander, 5,075 (12.3%) from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 2,701 (6.6%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12,016 persons (29.2%).
The Census reported that 40,716 people (99.0% of the population) lived in households, 316 (0.8%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 82 (0.2%) were institutionalized.
There were 14,701 households, out of which 4,831 (32.9%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 7,364 (50.1%) were opposite-sex married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 1,830 (12.4%) had a female householder with no husband present, 850 (5.8%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 764 (5.2%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships
POSSLQ
POSSLQ is an abbreviation for "Persons of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters," a term coined in the late 1970s by the United States Census Bureau as part of an effort to more accurately gauge the prevalence of cohabitation in American households....
, and 123 (0.8%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 3,660 households (24.9%) were made up of individuals and 1,119 (7.6%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77. There were 10,044 families
Family (U.S. Census)
A family or family household is defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes as "a householder and one or more other people related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption. They do not include same-sex married couples even if the marriage was performed in a state...
(68.3% of all households); the average family size was 3.31.
The population was spread out with 8,632 people (21.0%) under the age of 18, 3,577 people (8.7%) aged 18 to 24, 12,038 people (29.3%) aged 25 to 44, 11,653 people (28.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 5,214 people (12.7%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.8 years. For every 100 females there were 97.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.1 males.
There were 15,356 housing units at an average density of 2,803.1 per square mile (1,082.3/km²), of which 8,938 (60.8%) were owner-occupied, and 5,763 (39.2%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.1%; the rental vacancy rate was 3.9%. 24,712 people (60.1% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 16,004 people (38.9%) lived in rental housing units.
2000
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2008, there were 42,401 people, 15,486 households, and 10,561 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 8,353.6 people per square mile (3,840.3/km²). There were 16,403 housing units at an average density of 3,742.6 per square mile (2,059.3/km²).
There were 15,486 households out of which 35.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.8% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.4% were non-families. 28.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.72 and the average family size was 4.29.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.0% under the age of 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 35.5% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 9.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 97.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.1 males.
The median income
Income
Income is the consumption and savings opportunity gained by an entity within a specified time frame, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. However, for households and individuals, "income is the sum of all the wages, salaries, profits, interests payments, rents and other forms of earnings...
for a household in the city was $60,081, and the median income for a family was $69,251 (these figures had risen to $71,869 and $80,401 respectively as of a 2008 estimate). Males had a median income of $47,843 versus $39,851 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $25,360. About 5.1% of families and 7.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.8% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.
Politics
In the state legislatureCalifornia State Legislature
The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members...
San Bruno is located in the 8th Senate
California State Senate
The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 state senators. The state legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote...
District, represented by Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Leland Yee
Leland Yee
Leland Yee is a California State Senator in District 8 which represents the western half of San Francisco and most of San Mateo County. Prior to becoming state senator, Yee was a California State Assemblyman, Supervisor of San Francisco's Sunset District, and was a member and President of the San...
, and in the 19th Assembly
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
District, represented by Democrat Jerry Hill
Jerry Hill (Politician)
Jerry Hill is a Democratic state assemblyman representing California's 19th assembly district since December 2008. The district includes the cities of San Mateo, Burlingame, Brisbane, Daly City, Foster City, Millbrae, San Bruno, South San Francisco, Half Moon Bay, Pacifica, and Belmont.- Personal...
. Federally, San Bruno is located in California's 12th congressional district
California's 12th congressional district
California's 12th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California that spans from the southwestern portions of San Francisco in the north down to San Mateo in the south, and from Moss Beach in the west to the edge of San Mateo in the east, where it borders...
, which has a Cook PVI
Cook Partisan Voting Index
The Cook Partisan Voting Index , sometimes referred to as simply the Partisan Voting Index , is a measurement of how strongly an American congressional district or state leans toward one political party compared to the nation as a whole...
of D +22 and is represented by Democrat Jackie Speier
Jackie Speier
Karen Lorraine Jacqueline "Jackie" Speier is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2008. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes the northern two-thirds of San Mateo County and the southwest quarter of San Francisco.She is also a former member of the California State...
.
Parks
San Bruno City Park, bordered by Crystal Springs Avenue and El Crystal School, is the major municipal park. It offers shaded walkways and hiking trails, picnic tables, a playground, a small ballpark, a municipal swimming pool, and a recreation center that includes an indoor basketball court once used for training by the San Francisco Warriors basketball team. There are smaller municipal parks in other parts of the city.Junipero Serra County Park, also accessible from Crystal Springs Avenue, is a 100 acre (405 square kilometer) park owned by San Mateo County and includes numerous hiking trails, as well as picnic shelters, barbecue pits, and picnic tables. The wilderness area was named for Junipero Serra
Junípero Serra
Blessed Junípero Serra, O.F.M., , known as Fra Juníper Serra in Catalan, his mother tongue was a Majorcan Franciscan friar who founded the mission chain in Alta California of the Las Californias Province in New Spain—present day California, United States. Fr...
, a Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
friar who founded many of the Spanish missions in California during the eighteenth century; Serra regularly passed through what is now San Bruno whenever he visited the mission at San Francisco. The park is administered by the San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Department, which charges a five dollar entry fee for vehicles.
Education
The city is served by the San Bruno Park School District which operates seven elementary schools, and one imtermediate school. San Mateo Union High School DistrictSan Mateo Union High School District
The San Mateo Union High School District is a high school district headquartered in San Mateo, California.-Schools:The district consists of seven public high schools, one alternative high school , and one adult School in San Bruno, Millbrae, Burlingame, and San Mateo. The oldest school in the...
also serves the city, and most students who attend secondary public education attend Capuchino High School
Capuchino High School
Capuchino High School is a public high school in San Bruno, California, although the school is surrounded by the city of Millbrae on all but one corner...
. The city's main library is part of the Peninsula Library System
Peninsula Library System
The Peninsula Library System is the public library organization serving San Mateo County, California, United States, which forms the bulk of the region within the San Francisco Bay Area known as "The Peninsula"...
.
Early years
San Bruno was the location of the OhloneOhlone
The Ohlone people, also known as the Costanoan, are a Native American people of the central California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the area along the coast from San Francisco Bay through Monterey Bay to the lower Salinas Valley...
village Urebure. It was explored in November 1769 by a Spanish expedition led by Gaspar de Portola
Gaspar de Portolà
Gaspar de Portolà i Rovira was a soldier, governor of Baja and Alta California , explorer and founder of San Diego and Monterey. He was born in Os de Balaguer, province of Lleida, in Catalonia, Spain, of Catalan nobility. Don Gaspar served as a soldier in the Spanish army in Italy and Portugal...
. Later, more extensive explorations by Bruno Hecate resulted in the naming of San Bruno Creek
San Bruno Creek
San Bruno Creek is an intermittent stream that rises on the eastern slopes of the Northern Santa Cruz Mountains in San Mateo County, California, USA. The headwaters descend a relatively steep canyon east of Skyline Boulevard in a tortuous course...
after St. Bruno of Cologne, the founder of a medieval monastic order. This creek apparently later gave its name to the community.
With the establishment of the San Francisco de Asis
San Francisco de Asís
San Francisco de Asis is a town within the municipality of the Atotonilco El Alto located in the southeastern part of the state of Jalisco in Mexico. It is named after the Italian Saint Francis of Assisi. At the time of the census of 2005 the town had a population of 5,167 inhabitants...
(St. Francis of Assisi) mission, much of the area became pasture for the mission livestock. Following the decline of the missions, the area became part of Rancho Buri Buri
Rancho Buri Buri
Rancho Buri Buri was a Mexican land grant in present day San Mateo County, California given in 1835 by Governor José Castro to José Antonio Sánchez. The name derives from the Urebure village of the Ramaytush speaking Yelamu tribe of Ohlone people who were settled by the banks of San Bruno Creek...
granted to José de la Cruz Sánchez
José de la Cruz Sánchez
José de la Cruz Sánchez was the eleventh Alcalde of San Francisco in 1845.-Life:José de la Cruz Sánchez was the eldest son of José Antonio Sánchez grantee of Rancho Buri Buri in present day San Mateo. José de la Cruz married Josefa Ramona Eduarda Mercado y Sal and they had eight children...
, the eleventh Alcalde (mayor) of San Francisco. Dairy farms later became common in much of the area.
The city began as a stop on the Butterfield
Butterfield Overland Mail
The Butterfield Overland Mail Trail was a stagecoach route in the United States, operating from 1857 to 1861. It was a conduit for the U.S. mail from two eastern termini, Memphis, Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri, meeting Fort Smith, Arkansas, and continuing through Indian Territory, New Mexico,...
stagecoach route, utilizing an inn built in 1849, which was initially called Thorp's Place and later Uncle Tom's Cabin. The inn was demolished in 1949 and replaced with a Lucky's supermarket (now a Walgreens drugstore, on the corner of El Camino Real and Crystal Springs Avenue). Gus Jenevein (for whom Jenevein Avenue was named) built another landmark called San Bruno House, which burned several times and was not rebuilt after the third fire. A few homes and farms were developed in the area. The railroad between San Francisco and San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
built a train station at San Bruno in the 1860s. The railroad eventually became part of the Southern Pacific
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
system, which ran both passenger and freight trains on the line. Today it is known as Caltrain
Caltrain
Caltrain is a California commuter rail line on the San Francisco Peninsula and in the Santa Clara Valley in the United States. The northern terminus of the rail line is in San Francisco, at 4th and King streets; its southern terminus is in Gilroy...
.
A U.S. Post Office
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
was first established at San Bruno in 1875. Postal services were discontinued for several months in both 1890 and 1891, then from 1893 to 1898. There has been a Post Office in San Bruno continuously since 1898. The present Post Office is located near the Tanforan shopping center.
20th century
Real growth and development began after the 1906 earthquake and fire1906 San Francisco earthquake
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 7.9; however, other...
. The city's first public school was completed in late 1906. With the construction of Edgemont Elementary School in 1910, all classes were moved there and the original school building became a public facility named Green Hall. Another school, North Brae Elementary School, opened in 1912; among its earliest students was future actor Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. Paving of California's first state highway, El Camino Real, began in 1912 in front of San Bruno's Uncle Tom's Cabin; the highway is now designated as State Route 82. The adjoining San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport is a major international airport located south of downtown San Francisco, California, United States, near the cities of Millbrae and San Bruno in unincorporated San Mateo County. It is often referred to as SFO...
opened in early 1927 and included a Weather Bureau station, now operated by the National Weather Service
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...
. Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
was an early visitor to the airport, during his national tour following his successful transatlantic flight; unfortunately, his airplane (Spirit of St. Louis
Spirit of St. Louis
The Spirit of St. Louis is the custom-built, single engine, single-seat monoplane that was flown solo by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris for which Lindbergh won the $25,000 Orteig Prize.Lindbergh took off in the Spirit from Roosevelt...
) became stuck in the mud.
On January 18, 1911, aviator Eugene Ely made naval aviation history when he took off from Tanforan and made a successful landing on the armored cruiser
Armored cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...
USS Pennsylvania
USS Pennsylvania (ACR-4)
The second USS Pennsylvania , also referred to "Armored Cruiser No. 4", and later renamed Pittsburgh and numbered CA-4, was a United States Navy armored cruiser, the lead ship of her class....
anchored in San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
. This marked the first successful shipboard aircraft landing.
Following a campaign by the local newspaper, the San Bruno Herald
San Bruno Herald
San Bruno Herald began as an independent weekly newspaper in San Bruno, California in 1914 and continued publishing through the 1990s. The Herald was originally located in a small building at 624 San Mateo Avenue , then it moved to a larger facility on the corner of Angus and Mastick avenues, and...
, the community was incorporated in 1914, mainly so the streets could be paved. Green Hall became the first city hall. San Bruno grew rapidly, passing 1,500 residents by 1920 and 3,610 residents in 1930. Additional schools, including New Edgemont (later renamed Decima Allen) and Crystal Springs, were built during the 1940s.
In 1930, the El Camino Theater opened at the corner of El Camino Real
El Camino Real (California)
El Camino Real and sometimes associated with Calle Real usually refers to the 600-mile California Mission Trail, connecting the former Alta California's 21 missions , 4 presidios, and several pueblos, stretching from Mission San Diego de Alcalá in San Diego...
and San Mateo Avenue. The popular theater, wired for sound, replaced the earlier Melody Theater, which had presented silent films. The El Camino showed double features, cartoons, short comedies, adventure serials, and newsreels during its history, including Saturday matinees and summer Wednesday matinees for children. Normally, films changed every week, but in 1958 Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
's The Ten Commandments ran for two weeks to packed audiences. The theater closed in the early 1970s when a four-screen movie theater opened in the Tanforan shopping center. The El Camino Theater building was remodeled and currently houses several businesses. A larger, multi-screen complex was later built north of Tanforan, but it has been replaced by an even larger complex, Century at Tanforan, in the remodeled shopping center.
In 1939, the War Department created the Golden Gate National Cemetery
Golden Gate National Cemetery
Golden Gate National Cemetery is a U.S. National Cemetery, located in the city of San Bruno, San Mateo County, 12 miles south of San Francisco. Because of the name and location, it is frequently confused with San Francisco National Cemetery, which dates to the 19th century and is in the Presidio...
in San Bruno as space was starting to run out for veterans to be buried at the Presidio of San Francisco
Presidio of San Francisco
The Presidio of San Francisco is a park on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area...
.
Following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, there was continued growth and new subdivisions in Mills Park, Rollingwood, and Crestmoor. In 1947, the Bayshore Freeway
Bayshore Freeway
The Bayshore Freeway is a part of U.S. Route 101 in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. It runs along the west shore of the San Francisco Bay, connecting San Jose with San Francisco. Within the city of San Francisco, the freeway is also known as James Lick Freeway...
(U.S. Route 101) was opened from South San Francisco to Redwood City and included an interchange at San Bruno.
Prior to 1950, San Bruno's high school students attended San Mateo High School
San Mateo High School
San Mateo High School is an American National Blue Ribbon comprehensive four-year public high school in San Mateo, California serving grades 9–12 as part of the San Mateo Union High School District....
(opened in 1902) and then Burlingame High School
Burlingame High School
Burlingame High School is a public high school in Burlingame, California. It is part of the San Mateo Union High School District .-History:...
(opened in 1923), traveling to and from school on the street cars that ran next to the Southern Pacific railroad. Finally, on September 11, 1950, Capuchino High School
Capuchino High School
Capuchino High School is a public high school in San Bruno, California, although the school is surrounded by the city of Millbrae on all but one corner...
opened in San Bruno. After years of using Green Hall as a multi-purpose building, the city dedicated a library and city hall in 1954. That same year saw the dedication of the current central terminal at the airport, part of a major expansion program. A central fire station was later built next to the city hall; an additional station was built in Crestmoor.
Actress and businesswoman Suzanne Somers
Suzanne Somers
Suzanne Somers is an American actress, author, singer and businesswoman, known for her television roles as Chrissy Snow on Three's Company and as Carol Lambert on Step by Step....
was born in San Bruno in 1946. She attended local schools and graduated from Capuchino High School in June 1964.
In 1953, San Bruno annexed the adjoining unincorporated community of Lomita Park
Lomita Park, California
Lomita Park, California was a small unincorporated community adjacent to San Bruno in San Mateo County, just west of the San Francisco International Airport. It was roughly bounded by San Felipe Avenue, El Camino Real, San Juan Avenue, and the Southern Pacific railroad tracks.The Southern Pacific...
, bounded by San Felipe Avenue, El Camino Real, San Juan Avenue, and the railroad tracks. Until the annexation, Lomita Park had its own Southern Pacific train station and some community services.
Parkside Intermediate School was opened in 1954, followed by additional elementary schools: Rollingwood, Crestmoor, John Muir, and Carl Sandburg. A second intermediate school, Engvall, was built in Crestmoor Canyon, only to be closed, along with North Brae and Sandburg, when enrollment fell. These were all part of the San Bruno Park School District. Students in northwestern San Bruno were included in the Laguna Salada district. The private school, Highlands Christian School, is also located in San Bruno. Founded in 1966, Highlands Christian School is an interdenominational school, a ministry of Church of the Highlands, and teaches from toddlers to college preparatory school.
San Bruno considered new annexations in the mid-1950s that would have extended the city limits to the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. The unincorporated communities west of San Bruno decided they did not want to become part of San Bruno, so they incorporated in 1957 as the city of Pacifica.
The March 22, 1957, earthquake (5.3 magnitude) caused minor damage throughout the city, especially in some of the schools, where windows were broken and plaster cracked. A large chunk of plasterboard fell on the table where school district administrators were meeting; fortunately, no one was injured. Numerous cans and bottles were knocked off shelves at local stores, some of which were closed temporarily. Capuchino High School closed for the day following the quake, while other schools evacuated students to open areas. Many residents reported damage to crockery.
Eitel-McCullough
Eimac
Eimac is a trade mark of Eimac Products, part of the Microwave Power Products Division of Communications & Power Industries. It produces vacuum tubes for radio frequency applications such as broadcast and radar transmitters.-History:...
operated a large manufacturing plant in San Bruno for many years. William Eitel and Jack McCullogh formed the company in 1934. It specialized in the manufacture of power grid tubes. Known as Eimac, the company also made vacuum tubes used in communication equipment, as well as other products for military and commercial applications. Due to its work on broadcast transmission parts, Eimac operated an FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
radio station, KSBR
KSBR
KSBR is a non-commercial radio station in Mission Viejo, California, broadcasting to the Orange County, California, area on 88.5 FM. KSBR airs a jazz music and smooth jazz format branded as "Jazz-FM" along with news programming.- History :...
, which transmitted on 100.5 megahertz. The station began operations in 1947 and, that same year, was one of only two in the nation to test Rangertone tape recorders. (The other station was WASH-FM in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
) The recorders were based on the German Magnetophon
Magnetophon
Magnetophon was the brand or model name of the pioneering reel-to-reel tape recorder developed by engineers of the German electronics company AEG in the 1930s, based on the magnetic tape invention by Fritz Pfleumer...
. In need of more space, the company moved to San Carlos
San Carlos, California
San Carlos is a city in San Mateo County, California, USA on the San Francisco Peninsula, about halfway between San Francisco and San Jose. It is an affluent small residential suburb located between Belmont to the north and Redwood City to the south. San Carlos' ZIP code is 94070, and it is within...
in 1959. Eimac's San Carlos plant was dedicated on April 16, 1959. In 1965, Eimac merged with Varian Associates
Varian Associates
Varian Associates was one of the first high-tech companies in Silicon Valley. It was founded in 1948 by Russell H. and Sigurd F. Varian, William Webster Hansen, and Edward Ginzton to sell the klystron, the first tube which could generate electromagnetic waves at microwave frequencies, and other...
and became known as the Eimac Division. In 1995, Leonard Green & Partners
Leonard Green & Partners
Leonard Green & Partners is a private equity firm specializing in leveraged buyout transactions, particularly of middle market companies. As of 2010, the firm had with approximately $9 billion in assets under management....
purchased the entire Electron Devices Business from Varian and formed Communications & Power Industries.
Crestmoor High School
Crestmoor High School
Crestmoor High School opened in San Bruno, California in September 1962 to relieve congestion at Capuchino High School and Mills High School. It was the seventh high school to be built by the San Mateo Union High School District, based in San Mateo, California. Construction began in 1960 on a...
opened in September 1962, but was closed in June 1980 due to a decline in school enrollment. The city has a two-year community college, Skyline College
Skyline College
Skyline College is a community college that is located in San Mateo County, California, within the limits of the city of San Bruno, California, south of San Francisco...
.
A major landmark in San Bruno for many years was the Tanforan Racetrack
Tanforan Racetrack
Tanforan Racetrack in San Bruno, California was a thoroughbred horse racing facility that operated from September 4, 1899 to July 31, 1964. Tanforan was constructed to serve a clientele from the nearby city of San Francisco. The facility was named after Toribio Tanforan, the grandson-in-law of Jose...
, which opened in 1899. Such famous racehorses as Seabiscuit
Seabiscuit
Seabiscuit was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse in the United States. From an inauspicious start, Seabiscuit became an unlikely champion and a symbol of hope to many Americans during the Great Depression...
and Citation
Citation (horse)
Citation was the eighth American Triple Crown winner, and one of three major North American Thoroughbreds to win at least 16 consecutive races in major stakes race competition...
raced there. Famed Hollywood director Frank Capra
Frank Capra
Frank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s...
filmed scenes for two of his films, Broadway Bill
Broadway Bill
Broadway Bill is an American horse-racing - comedy film from 1934, directed by Frank Capra and starring Warner Baxter and Myrna Loy. In the UK the film was released as Strictly Confidential...
and Riding High
Riding High (1950 film)
Riding High is a black and white musical racetrack film featuring Bing Crosby and directed by Frank Capra in which the songs were actually sung as the movie was being filmed instead of the customary lip-synching to previous recordings. The movie is a remake of an earlier Capra film called...
, at the racetrack. For six months in 1942, it served as a one of the main Bay Area centers for those forced into Japanese American internment
Japanese American internment
Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...
, processing about 7800 Japanese, usually for about four-five months before they were sent out to larger facilities in the desert of Utah and Manzanar
Manzanar
Manzanar is most widely known as the site of one of ten camps where over 110,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II. Located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in California's Owens Valley between the towns of Lone Pine to the south and Independence to the north, it is...
in the Owens Valley
Owens Valley
Owens Valley is the arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States, to the east of the Sierra Nevada and west of the White Mountains and Inyo Mountains on the west edge of the Great Basin section...
.The track closed in 1964 and was about to be demolished when it was destroyed in a major fire on July 31, 1964. The city's only shopping mall was later built on the site; surrounding city streets were named for some of the racehorses who appeared at Tanforan.
The city was the site of the crash of Flying Tiger Line Flight 282
Flying Tiger Line Flight 282
Flying Tiger Flight 282 refers to the crash of a Lockheed Constellation aircraft, N6915C, shortly after take-off from San Francisco International Airport in the early morning hours of Thursday, December 24, 1964....
on December 23, 1964.
During the late 1960s, the I-280
Interstate 280 (California)
Interstate 280 is a 57-mile long north–south Interstate Highway in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It connects San Jose and San Francisco, running along just to the west of the cities of San Francisco Peninsula for most of its route.I-280 from its northern end at King...
(Junipero Serra Freeway), followed by I-380
Interstate 380 (California)
Interstate 380 is a short 3.3-mile east–west spur Interstate Highway in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California, connecting Interstate 280 in San Bruno to U.S. Route 101 near the San Francisco International Airport . The highway primarily consists of only three intersections:...
, was built through San Bruno. The San Bruno Planning Commission (then chaired by Peter Weinberger, brother of Caspar Weinberger
Caspar Weinberger
Caspar Willard "Cap" Weinberger , was an American politician, vice president and general counsel of Bechtel Corporation, and Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan from January 21, 1981, until November 23, 1987, making him the third longest-serving defense secretary to date, after...
) reviewed and approved plans for two major shopping centers, Bayhill (located on the old U.S. Navy property between San Bruno Avenue and Sneath Lane) and Tanforan. With final approval by the San Bruno City Council, construction proceeded on these major retail developments. Prior to that most of the city's stores were located on San Mateo Avenue and El Camino Real
El Camino Real (California)
El Camino Real and sometimes associated with Calle Real usually refers to the 600-mile California Mission Trail, connecting the former Alta California's 21 missions , 4 presidios, and several pueblos, stretching from Mission San Diego de Alcalá in San Diego...
.
San Bruno became one of only two cities in the Bay Area that manages its own cable TV and internet system.
The October 17, 1989, Loma Prieta earthquake
Loma Prieta earthquake
The Loma Prieta earthquake, also known as the Quake of '89 and the World Series Earthquake, was a major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area of California on October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. local time...
(6.9 magnitude) caused some damage in the city. The U.S. Postal Service's Western Regional headquarters, then the tallest building in San Bruno, had to be demolished due to severe structural damage. The world headquarters for The Gap clothing company is now the tallest building in the city.
The San Bruno Beacon started publishing news and commentary online in 1995. A few years later, The San Bruno Herald ceased publication as a weekly newspaper.
21st century
San Bruno acquired its ownSan Bruno (BART station)
San Bruno Station is a Bay Area Rapid Transit station located adjacent to the Tanforan shopping center in suburban San Bruno, California, in northern San Mateo County...
BART station in 2003, when the transit system was extended to Millbrae and the San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport is a major international airport located south of downtown San Francisco, California, United States, near the cities of Millbrae and San Bruno in unincorporated San Mateo County. It is often referred to as SFO...
. The city has hosted offices for many businesses throughout the years, including The Gap
Gap (clothing retailer)
The Gap, Inc. is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in San Francisco, California, and founded in 1969 by Donald G. Fisher and Doris F. Fisher. The company has five primary brands: the namesake Gap banner, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime and Athleta. As of September 2008,...
. In 2007, Youtube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
moved its headquarters from San Mateo, California
San Mateo, California
San Mateo is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of approximately 100,000 , it is one of the larger suburbs on the San Francisco Peninsula, located between Burlingame to the north, Foster City to the east, Belmont to the south,...
to San Bruno, on Cherry Avenue next to Interstate 380
Interstate 380 (California)
Interstate 380 is a short 3.3-mile east–west spur Interstate Highway in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California, connecting Interstate 280 in San Bruno to U.S. Route 101 near the San Francisco International Airport . The highway primarily consists of only three intersections:...
.
September 2010 explosion and fire
On September 9, 2010, at about 6:15 p.m. PDT, a gas line ruptured leading to a fire that severely damaged a residential neighborhood. Eight people were killed, 60 were injured, 38 homes were destroyed and 123 additional homes were damaged. The resulting fire "hot spots" were easily detected using meteorological satellite images.The explosion, which took place two miles (3 km) west of San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport is a major international airport located south of downtown San Francisco, California, United States, near the cities of Millbrae and San Bruno in unincorporated San Mateo County. It is often referred to as SFO...
(37.623°N 122.442°W), was initially thought to have been a plane crash, but the FAA and airport officials confirmed no downed aircraft was reported.
During the days prior to the explosion, some residents reported a strong smell of natural gas in the area.
On September 10, a team from the National Transportation Safety Board
National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...
began an investigation into the cause of the explosion.
On September 13, PG&E agreed to set aside a $100 million fund to the victims of the explosion. This does not preclude residents from taking any further action against PG&E. Parts of the exploded material were taken to Washington, D.C., a couple of days after the explosion for examination.
Former Naval Facility San Bruno
During World War II the United States NavyUnited States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
established a base on what was a dairy opened by Richard Sneath. There it operated a Classification Center and a Naval Advance Base Personnel Depot. After the war it continued operation, and became host to the consolidated Western Division of Naval Facilities supporting the multiple navy bases that were operating in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Due to the 1993 BRAC
Base Realignment and Closure
Base Realignment and Closure is a process of the United States federal government directed at the administration and operation of the Armed Forces, used by the United States Department of Defense and Congress to close excess military installations and realign the total asset inventory to reduce...
and its closure of neighboring bases although recommended for realignment, the Navy decided to close the facility, carrying through with its decision in October 1994.
The federal government retained part of the former Naval Facility. The Pacific Region (San Francisco) facility of the National Archives and Records Administration
National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
was established. One of the buildings became a Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Center, which hosts the Headquarters Company of the 23rd Marine Regiment, amongst other units. The rest of the facility was sold to a private developer who has since built multi-story apartment buildings on the former base. The 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) area of the former U.S. Navy complex is bounded by San Bruno Avenue, El Camino Real, Sneath Lane, and I-280.
Top employers
According to San Bruno's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city were:| # | Employer | # of Employees |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | YouTube YouTube YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos.... |
400 |
| 2 | IronPort IronPort IronPort Systems, Inc., headquartered in San Bruno, California, was a company that designed and sold products and services that protect enterprises against Internet threats. It was best known for IronPort AntiSpam, the SenderBase email reputation service, and email security appliances... |
373 |
| 3 | Lash Group | 309 |
| 4 | Sears | 287 |
| 5 | Target Target Corporation Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's... |
286 |
| 6 | J. C. Penney J. C. Penney -External links:*... |
237 |
| 7 | Lowe's Lowe's Lowe's Companies, Inc. is a U.S.-based chain of retail home improvement and appliance stores. Founded in 1946 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the chain now serves more than 14 million customers a week in its 1,710 stores in the United States and 20 in Canada. Expansion into Canada began in... |
156 |
| 8 | InQuira | 75 |
| 9 | Melody Toyota | 67 |
| 10 | VantagePoint Venture Partners VantagePoint Venture Partners VantagePoint Capital Partners is a firm with investments in the cleantech, information technology and healthcare sectors.Founded in 1996, by Alan E. Salzman and Jim Marver, the firm has raised over $4 billion with more than $1 billion dedicated specifically to CleanTech... |
62 |
Notable people
- Wally BunkerWally BunkerWallace Edward Bunker is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. A right-hander, Bunker pitched for the Baltimore Orioles from to and Kansas City Royals from to .-Biography:...
- Luana DeVolLuana DeVolLuana DeVol is an American operatic soprano who made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Ortrud in April 2007 in Wagner's Lohengrin. The production was broadcast internationally on April 29, 2007...
- Keith HernandezKeith HernandezKeith Barlow Hernandez is a former Major League Baseball first baseman. He is currently a baseball analyst working for the New York Mets, for whom he played from –, on SportsNet New York and WPIX television broadcasts...
- Ron "Pigpen" McKernan
- Suzanne SomersSuzanne SomersSuzanne Somers is an American actress, author, singer and businesswoman, known for her television roles as Chrissy Snow on Three's Company and as Carol Lambert on Step by Step....
- Angelo Zawaydeh, Class of 2004, Terra Nova High SchoolTerra Nova High School (Pacifica)Terra Nova High School is an American public high school in Pacifica in San Mateo County, California serving grades 9 through 12 as part of the Jefferson Union High School District .-History:...
. PFC, US ArmyUnited States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. Died Southwest of BaghdadBaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, one of two service member fatalities of San Mateo County related to OIFIraq Campaign MedalThe Iraq Campaign Medal is a military award of the United States armed forces which was created by Executive Order 13363 of President George W. Bush on November 29, 2004. The Iraq Campaign Medal was designed by the U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry....
.