Sweeney Ridge

The San Francisco Bay Discovery Site is a marker commemorating the first recorded European sighting of San Francisco Bay. In 1769, the Portola expedition traveled north by land from San Diego, seeking to establish a base at the Port of Monterey described by Sebastian Vizcaino in 1602. When they reached Monterey, however, they were not sure it was the right place and decided to continue north. The party reached San Pedro Creek on October 31 and camped there for four nights, while scouts led by José Francisco Ortega climbed Sweeney Ridge, where they could see over the ridge toward the east, and so became the first Europeans to see San Francisco Bay on November 1. The scouts returned on November 3, and led the entire party up to the ridge on November 4. Franciscan missionary Juan Crespi noted in his diary, "from the summit of a peak we beheld the great estuary or arm of the sea." After seeing the immense bay to the east, and having learned from the scouts that further progress to the north would be blocked by the Golden Gate, the party turned southeast and descended toward the bay. Sweeney Ridge is located in northern San Mateo County and is now a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The site is both a California Historical Landmark and a National Historic Landmark. The spot chosen for the marker is somewhat arbitrary, as the precise location where Portola's party reached the summit of the ridge is not known. The landmarked area encompasses two of the highest knolls on the ridge.As of October, 2020, the marker has been vandalized, with Portolà’s name and the date of the discovery chiseled away.

San Andrés Creek (Spanish for: St. Andrew's Creek), now called San Andreas Creek, is a perennial stream that flows 5.9 miles (9.5 km) southeasterly along the San Andreas Fault from Sweeney Ridge in San Mateo County, California, providing the inflow to and outflow from San Andreas Reservoir, and then entering Lower Crystal Springs Reservoir, where it was a historic tributary to San Mateo Creek. San Mateo Creek then carries its waters over Crystal Springs Dam northeast to San Francisco Bay.

Flying Tiger Line Flight 282 refers to the crash of a Lockheed Super Constellation aircraft, N6915C, shortly after takeoff from San Francisco International Airport in the early morning hours of Thursday, December 24, 1964. There were 3 crewmen aboard: pilot Jabez A. Richards, 49, of Bayhead, New Jersey; Daniel W. Hennessy, 33, of Hillsborough, California, as co-pilot, and Paul M. Entz, 37, of North Hollywood, California, as flight engineer. On Wednesday, December 23, 1964, Flying Tiger Line Flight 282 arrived at San Francisco International Airport from Japan. Filled with a cargo of electronic equipment, bolts of fabric, women's scarves, bandannas, purses, and costume jewelry for the Christmas holiday, the craft was refueled and then departed just after midnight with a crew of three, 41,000 pounds (19,000 kg) of cargo, 136 pounds (62 kg) of mail, and 5,000 gallons of high-octane aviation fuel. The weather was heavy fog and rain. A large cold front was moving onshore; it had already caused the loss of a Coast Guard helicopter.Going northwest from San Francisco Bay, Flight 282 was to head out over the ocean to circle and gain altitude, then travel east toward its destination of JFK International Airport in New York City. Shortly after takeoff, however, the plane veered to the left of its planned course. The pilot subsequently asked the tower for permission to change his radio setting from takeoff to departure frequency. Seconds later, the plane vanished from the tower's radar scope. The "Super Connie" crashed near the top of Sweeney Ridge in San Bruno, very close to the site of a Coast Guard radio station. All three crew members aboard were killed. No one on the ground was killed or injured. The Civil Aeronautics Board determined that the probable cause of the accident was that the pilot, for undetermined reasons, deviated from departure course into an area of rising terrain, where downdraft activity and turbulence affected the ability of the craft to climb.

The San Bruno pipeline explosion occurred at 6:11 pm PDT on September 9, 2010, in San Bruno, California, when a 30-inch (76 cm) diameter steel natural gas pipeline owned by Pacific Gas & Electric exploded into flames in the Crestmoor residential neighborhood 2 miles (3.2 km) west of San Francisco International Airport near Skyline Boulevard and San Bruno Avenue. The loud roar and shaking led some residents of the area, first responders, and news media to initially believe that it was an earthquake or that a large airplane had crashed. It took crews nearly an hour to determine it was a gas pipeline explosion. As of September 29, 2010, the death toll was eight people. The United States Geological Survey registered the explosion and resulting shock wave as a magnitude 1.1 earthquake. Eyewitnesses reported the initial blast "shot a fireball more than 1,000 feet (300 m) in the air".

Frontierland Park is a park in Pacifica, California in the San Francisco Bay Area. The park was built on a former-landfill and was named after a nearby closed theme park.

Terra Nova High School is an American public high school in Pacifica in San Mateo County, California, United States. It serves grades 9 through 12 as part of the Jefferson Union High School District.

Skyline College is a public community college in San Bruno, California. It is one of three comprehensive community colleges in the San Mateo County Community College District. It was opened in 1969.Skyline College claims an annual population of over 17,000 students. Students can choose from more than 100 degree and certificate programs.

The Sharp Park Detention Station was a Japanese American internment camp located in northern California on land owned by San Francisco in Pacifica. Open from March 30, 1942, until 1946, the camp was built to hold as many as 600 detainees, but later held approximately 2,500 detainees.

Rancho San Pedro was a 8,926-acre (36.12 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day San Mateo County, California given in 1839 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Francisco Sanchez. The grant encompasses present-day Pacifica.

San Bruno Creek (Spanish for: "St. Brun") 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. Comparison of topographic maps from 1896 and 1939 illustrates the extreme modification in the lower reaches due to urban development from the rapidly expanding population. The San Bruno Creek watershed was originally settled by a tribe of the Ohlone, and later this locale was part of the Spanish missions' landholdings. A hiking trail winds along San Bruno Creek representing an important link in the San Francisco Bay Trail; in fact, this link is needed to make up for lack of access along a large bay front area occupied exclusively by San Francisco International Airport; thus, the Bay Trail must detour a full two miles inland from the bay to meet the San Bruno Creek Trail.

Peninsula High School is a public alternative high school in San Bruno, California, United States It uses Crestmoor High School's building. It is part of the San Mateo Union High School District (SMUHSD). Its main purpose is to aid students who are behind in credits that are necessary for graduation.

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 graded plateau in the Crestmoor district of San Bruno and took about two years to complete. The buildings, which are similar in design to those of Aragon High School, Hillsdale High School, and Mills High School, were constructed mostly of steel and glass, featuring expansion systems to provide earthquake resistance. The school, and its similarly designed schools, have been designed in an architectural style described as "postwar techno-optimism". The school was closed in 1980.Field Area:The schools Baseball and Football/Track fields are still open to the public, and are currently maintained by the San Bruno City. The track is one of the last dirt tracks you can run on. The fields are enjoyed by youth soccer teams. The view from the school site takes in the East Bay and South San Francisco to San Mateo.