San Francisco Quiz: Hills, Piers and Painted Ladies of the USA
This San Francisco quiz explores the hilly city by the bay in California, USA, with questions on its old name Yerba Buena, crooked Lombard Street, the 1906 earthquake, the Painted Ladies, the sea lions of Pier 39, North America's oldest Chinatown, the 49ers, the Summer of Love in Haight-Ashbury, Levi Strauss and the fortune cookie. Ten questions.
Start San Francisco Quiz
🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 90 Seconds
Names
Before it was renamed in 1847, San Francisco was a small settlement called what?
Streets
Which San Francisco street is famous for its eight tight hairpin turns?
Disasters
In which year did a huge earthquake and fire destroy much of San Francisco?
Houses
What are the Painted Ladies at Alamo Square?
Sea lions
Since 1989, which animals have taken over the docks at Pier 39?
Chinatown
San Francisco's Chinatown is famous for being what?
Sports
San Francisco's NFL team, the 49ers, is named after what?
Culture
Which neighborhood was the center of the 1967 Summer of Love?
Clothes
Which famous product did Levi Strauss's San Francisco company help create in 1873?
Snacks
The fortune cookie is believed to have been introduced in the United States at which San Francisco garden?
Your score
0/10
Scroll down to see the explanation for each question.
Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions
- Q1: Before it was renamed in 1847, San Francisco was a small settlement called what?
Answer: Yerba Buena
The name means good herb in Spanish, after a wild mint that grew there. Yerba Buena Island in the bay still carries the name.
- Q2: Which San Francisco street is famous for its eight tight hairpin turns?
Answer: Lombard Street
The curves were added in 1922 because the hill was too steep for cars. Flower beds line the zigzag road.
- Q3: In which year did a huge earthquake and fire destroy much of San Francisco?
Answer: 1906
The earthquake struck on April 18 and the fires burned for days. More than half of the city's population was left homeless.
- Q4: What are the Painted Ladies at Alamo Square?
Answer: Colorful Victorian houses
The row of houses appears in the opening of the TV show Full House. Thousands of Victorian homes survived the 1906 fire.
- Q5: Since 1989, which animals have taken over the docks at Pier 39?
Answer: Sea lions
They arrived after the Loma Prieta earthquake, and hundreds can be seen in some months. The pier made the docks their home.
- Q6: San Francisco's Chinatown is famous for being what?
Answer: The oldest Chinatown in North America
It was founded in the 1840s, when many Chinese immigrants arrived during the Gold Rush. The Dragon Gate marks its entrance on Grant Avenue.
- Q7: San Francisco's NFL team, the 49ers, is named after what?
Answer: The gold seekers of the 1849 Gold Rush
The Gold Rush turned San Francisco from a village into a booming city almost overnight. The team now plays in Santa Clara.
- Q8: Which neighborhood was the center of the 1967 Summer of Love?
Answer: Haight-Ashbury
Tens of thousands of young people came for music, art and hippie culture. Bands such as the Grateful Dead lived nearby.
- Q9: Which famous product did Levi Strauss's San Francisco company help create in 1873?
Answer: Blue jeans with metal rivets
Levi Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis patented the rivets that made work trousers stronger. Miners and workers loved them.
- Q10: The fortune cookie is believed to have been introduced in the United States at which San Francisco garden?
Answer: The Japanese Tea Garden
The garden is in Golden Gate Park. Despite their link to Chinese restaurants, fortune cookies probably come from Japanese crackers.
San Francisco Quiz – The City by the Bay
San Francisco is a city in Northern California, USA, built on more than 40 hills at the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay. Famous for its steep streets, cable cars, Victorian houses, fog and the Golden Gate Bridge, it is one of the most visited and photographed cities in America.
Spanish settlers founded a mission and a fort there in 1776, and a small town called Yerba Buena grew nearby. It was renamed San Francisco in 1847. The California Gold Rush of 1849 turned it into a booming city almost overnight. In 1906, a huge earthquake and fire destroyed much of it, but it was quickly rebuilt.
The city is full of famous neighborhoods. Chinatown is the oldest in North America, the Mission is known for murals and burritos, and Haight-Ashbury was the center of the 1967 Summer of Love. Lombard Street winds down Russian Hill, and the Painted Ladies line Alamo Square.
Along the waterfront, Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39, with its sea lions, attract visitors. Ferries go to Alcatraz Island, the former prison. Golden Gate Park, larger than New York's Central Park, has museums, gardens and bison.
San Francisco gave the world blue jeans, sourdough bread and fortune cookies. Today, it is linked to Silicon Valley and the tech industry.
The weather is famous for being cool and foggy in summer, especially near the ocean, so visitors are advised to bring layers. Microclimates mean one neighborhood can be sunny while another is covered in mist just a few kilometers away.
This quiz covers the history, neighborhoods, landmarks and culture of San Francisco.
What This Quiz Teaches
This quiz is perfect for travelers, history fans and California lovers.
- San Francisco's old name, Yerba Buena
- Lombard Street and the Painted Ladies
- The 1906 earthquake and the Gold Rush
- Pier 39's sea lions and Chinatown
- The Summer of Love in Haight-Ashbury
- Levi's jeans and the fortune cookie
Quick Facts About San Francisco
- San Francisco's cable cars are a National Historic Landmark.
- Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill has murals from the 1930s.
- The Transamerica Pyramid is one of the city's most famous towers.
- Sourdough bread has been baked in the city since the Gold Rush.
- The city is about 11 kilometers across.
- Oracle Park, home of the Giants, sits on the bay.
Related Quizzes
Ready for another round?
Jump to a random quiz from the archive.