Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly RuinFirst published in 1999, this celebrated history of San Francisco traces the exploitation of both local and distant regions by prominent families—the Hearsts, de Youngs, Spreckelses, and others—who gained power through mining, ranching, water and energy, transportation, real estate, weapons, and the mass media. The story uncovered by Gray Brechin is one of greed and ambition on an epic scale. Brechin arrives at a new way of understanding urban history as he traces the connections between environment, economy, and technology and discovers links that led, ultimately, to the creation of the atomic bomb and the nuclear arms race. In a new preface, Brechin considers the vulnerability of cities in the post-9/11 twenty-first century. |
Contents
New Romes for a New World | xxxiii |
The Pyramid or Mining | 11 |
Water Mains and Bloodlines | 69 |
The Scott Brothers Arms and the Overland Monthly | 119 |
The De Youngs Society Invents Itself | 169 |
The Hearsts Racial Supremacy and the Digestion of All Mexico | 198 |
Toward Limitless Energy | 243 |
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Common terms and phrases
acquired American aqueducts bank Bay Area Berkeley bomb building capital century city's civilization claimed Coast Comstock Comstock Lode contado County Courtesy Bancroft Library Crocker destiny empire energy Figure fortunes George Hearst gold Golden Gate growing Hetch Hetchy Hill hydraulic mines Imperial San Francisco industry Japan Japanese John John Hays Hammond labor land Lawrence leading Market Mexican Mexico Michael de Young military million miners nation needed Newlands newspapers Neylan Overland Monthly Pacific Park Phelan Philippines Phoebe Apperson Hearst Phoebe Hearst political president produced Pyramid of Mining race railroad Ralston real estate regents River Roosevelt San Fran San Francisco Bay San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Examiner San Mateo Schussler Scott Senator served Sharon Sierra Nevada Spreckels Spring Valley Street Tevis thousand tion Union Iron United University of California Water Company wealth weapons West western Wheeler William Hammond Hall William Randolph Hearst wrote York
Popular passages
Page xix - F-15. And the hidden fist that keeps the world safe for Silicon Valley's technologies to flourish is called the US Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.
Page xxiv - And an equally basic essential to peace is a decent standard of living for all individual men and women and children in all nations. Freedom from fear is eternally linked with freedom from want.