A National Historic Landmark. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1968. 21 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1892.
From the record
“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.”
Wikipedia article San Francisco Bay Discovery Site, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 63 National Register listings published here for San Mateo County · listed in 1968 · category: Site · a National Historic Landmark.
National Register reference number.68000022- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Then and now
1892 to 1997
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
105 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
18921997
Fires near this property
268 since 1992
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 268 fires within 5 miles of San Francisco Bay Discovery Site
between 1992 and 2020, burning about 840 acres in total. None started naturally. 33 were recorded as arson.
Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted
here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
Reported cause
Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
156
Arson/incendiarism
33
Smoking
26
Misuse of fire by a minor
18
Equipment and vehicle use
17
Debris and open burning
7
Recreation and ceremony
6
Power generation/transmission/distribution
4
Fireworks
1
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Date
Cause
Size
Reported by
Name on the report
9 September 2010
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
1.0 acres
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
9 September 2007
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
7 September 2016
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
12 acres
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
BRUNO
7 September 2016
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
15 acres
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
7 September 2013
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
41 acres
San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit
CHESTNUT 2
7 September 2013
Power generation/transmission/distribution
under an acre
San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit
A1
7 September 2009
Arson/incendiarism
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
7 September 2007
Smoking
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
18 workings within 5 miles of San Francisco Bay Discovery Site: 9 past producers, 8 producers, 1 prospect.
8 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Calcium, Gold. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
San Bruno, the town this property stands in, in 4 storm reports between 2014 and 2025: 3 flood, 1 flash flood.
No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office
filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date
opens the federal record of that event.
Significant flash flooding on Interstate 280 was reported by the public. This coincided with a nearby observation of 0.90 of rainfall in 30 minutes at San Bruno Mountain. Traffic was significantly impacted and slowed or stopped during the height of morning rush hour.
United States Geological Survey topographic
sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the middle of the area the National Park Service maps for this listing, then
testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
Other National Register properties close
enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both
positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties
to their map sheets.
Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.
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