Brisbane was developed during the land boom that followed the San
Francisco earthquake - all those displaced people needed places to
live, after all. When first developed, Brisbane was actually named
the "City of Visitacion".
The City of Brisbane web page has a great
online history page where you can read about
the early days of this area, with great quotes like these...
-
"In those days, we had to walk from Brisbane all the
way up by the Cow Palace to go to a one-room school. My brother and
sisters, and the Lindes, and Bud Sweet, and the Mozzettis' three
children would all walk roughly two miles, maybe two and a half
miles."
-
Following the introduction of Prohibition in 1918, a
number of San Francisco mobsters employed moonshiners to
manufacture liquor in Costanos Canyon. As a result of these
activities, the area soon became known as a center of speakeasies
and gambling dens.
-
No discussion of Arthur Annis would be complete without
asking the question: Why did he call the town
Brisbane?
-- for the answer to that last one, you'll have to read the
pages yourself.
There are some nice caches here, both in the city parks and
along a trail up San Bruno Mountain that starts at the end of
Trinity Road. Pull off the highway sometime and explore!