View of San Francisco, California, taken from Telegraph Hill, April 1850, by William B. McMurtrie, draughtsman of the U.S. Surveying Expedition

With the California Gold Rush starting in early 1848, thousands of people seeking gold and other enterprising commercial ventures came to San Francisco from the rest of the United States and abroad. By 1849, the number of residents had increased from 1,000 to 25,000; and the rapid population growth continued through the 1850s, making San Francisco an important hub for maritime trade and the largest city in the American West. On September 9, 1850, California became the thirty-first state of the United States..

This lithograph presents a dramatic view of the rough, young city and its scenic surroundings. In 1851, Frances Flora ("Fanny") Palmer skillfully drew the panoramic vista of San Francisco onto a lithography stone; she based her image on a detailed watercolor done in April 1850 by William B. McMurtrie, the draftsman who accompanied the US Pacific Coast Survey. At the left of the picture, a man stands besides the wooden signal house atop Telegraph Hill, where he observed the bay crowded with anchored sailing vessels and the burgeoning coastal town of stores and houses. He used this high vantage point so he could send semaphore telegraph messages to local merchants, thereby notifying them of arriving ships and their cargo. At the right, a cluster of goats suggests the still-rural frontier character of the city. The print's publisher Nathaniel Currier was quick to be among the first to offer a current view of San Francisco-- as it looked then -- to satisfy the curiosity of prospective investors, politicians, and the general public, who were interested in the development potential of this strategically placed city on the western edge of the North American continent. Indeed, customers were so eager for a picture of San Francisco, they were willing to pay the unusually expensive price of $5.00 when it was first issued -- a price that was much more than for other prints, which ranged in cost from a nickel to one dollar.

Currier, whose successful New York-based lithography business had thrived since 1835, produced thousands of hand-colored prints in various sizes that together create a vivid panorama of mid-to-late nineteenth century American life. After1857, when Currier made James Merritt Ives a partner, the renamed Currier & Ives firm continued until 1907. Frances Flora (Fanny) Palmer was one of the most important artists working for Nathaniel Currier, and later Currier & Ives, between 1849 and 1868, when she produced approximately 200 of the firm's best landscapes and most engaging scenes of daily life.