San Francisco is steeped in history. It’s easy to find its Italian history, its Spanish and Chinese history, and even to some extent its Native American history. But the city’s French heritage is less celebrated.
Two French organizations — the French Mutual Benevolent Society and the Alliance Francaise are currently hosting an exhibit highlighting San Francisco’s Frenchness, titled “A Corner of France in America.”
San Francisco’s legendary sourdough bread started in 1852 as French bread, says Dr. Claudine Chalmers, curator of the exhibit. That’s the year the Boudin Bakery opened on Grant Street.
There was certainly a market for French products at that time; more French people came to San Francisco during the Gold Rush than any other group, except maybe Germans. Chalmers says around 30,000 Frenchmen arrived in San Francisco between 1849 and 1856 -- some on their own, others through organized expeditions.
