Daly City, California

Daly City is the largest city in San Mateo County, California, United States, with an estimated 2014 population of 106,094. Located immediately south of San Francisco, it is named in honor of businessman and landowner John Daly.

History

Archaeological evidence suggests the San Francisco Bay Area has been inhabited as early as 2700 BC People of the Ohlone language group occupied Northern California from at least the 6th century. Though their territory had been claimed by Spain since the early 16th century, they would have relatively little contact with Europeans until 1769, when, as part of an effort to colonize Alta California, an exploration party led by Don Gaspar de Portolà learned of the existence of San Francisco Bay. Seven years later, in 1776, an expedition led by Juan Bautista de Anza selected the site for the Presidio of San Francisco, which Jose Joaquin Moraga would soon establish. Later the same year, the Franciscan missionary Francisco Palóu founded the Mission San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores). As part of the founding, the priests claimed the land south of the mission for sixteen miles for raising crops and for fodder for cattle and sheep. In 1778, the priests and soldiers marked out a trail to connect San Francisco to the rest of California. At the top of Mission Hill, the priests named the gap between San Bruno Mountain and the hills on the coast La Portezuela ("The Little Door"). La Portezuela was later referred to as Daly's Hill, the Center of Daly City, and is now called Top of the Hill.

Daly City (BART station)

Daly City is a Bay Area Rapid Transit station located in extreme northern San Mateo County, California, in suburban Daly City, less than one block outside the San Francisco city and county limits. Interstate 280 and California Route 1 run along the immediate west side of the station. Before BART service was extended farther south to Colma in 1996 and Millbrae in 2003, Daly City Station was the only BART station in San Mateo County as opposed to mostly San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa Counties and served as the terminal station (now at Millbrae) on the San Francisco Peninsula for the BART system.

The elevated station serves as a terminus for some BART lines. It consists of three main tracks with a shared island platform and one side platform. The side platform is used primarily by southbound trains continuing on to Colma and Millbrae. The island platform is used primarily by northbound trains coming from Colma or Milbrae, or southbound trains terminating at the station. Southbound trains terminating at Daly City reverse their direction to make the return trip to San Francisco and the East Bay, unless they are going out of service at the rail yard in Colma.