Brisbane

History

The first recorded inhabitants were the Costanoan Indians. They built dome-shaped dwellings of boughs and tules. By 1776, Spanish explorers had arrived and the Franciscan missionaries soon followed leaving numerous large land grants in their wake. With Mexican rule, the lands controlled by the Mission were released to private enterprise. Brisbane was originally part of Rancho Cañada de Guadalupe la Visitación y Rodeo Viejo, a large tract of land that included the Cañada de Guadalupe (now Guadalupe Valley), and also the Bayshore district of Daly City, the Visitacion Valley district of San Francisco, and San Bruno Mountain. Visitacion City, as it was initially known, was platted in 1908 adjacent to a new rail line, the Bayshore Cutoff, that had been completed in 1907 to the east of the town site. The Southern Pacific Railroad built the new line to create a faster and more direct route into San Francisco. The railroad also planned to build extensive terminal facilities just north of the town site. The Visitacion Valley rail yard and locomotive works were expected to employ over 1,000 workers, but construction was halted soon after it began due to the Panic of 1907. The town site remained largely undeveloped for many years. proposed the name change from Visitacion City to Brisbane. Annis regarded the name Visitacion City as a handicap "being so close to a San Francisco city district with a similar name", which he felt would confuse people and prevent "Brisbane" from establishing its own unique identity. Accounts of how the city acquired its name vary. According to his daughter, the city was named for Brisbane, Queensland, perhaps due to the area's resemblance to that port city at the time. Another story holds that it was named for newspaper columnist Arthur Brisbane.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (84.58%) is water, the latter the Brisbane Lagoon. A remnant of San Francisco Bay, the lagoon was formed by the construction of the U.S. Highway 101 causeway, and became diminished as most of its north and central portions were filled with landfill. Brisbane sits at the southeast corner of the Guadalupe Valley. Guadalupe Valley Creek is a small creek which flows east through Brisbane along the north flank of San Bruno Mountain and enters the Brisbane Lagoon after passing under the Tunnel Avenue bridge.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Anna's Hummingbird

  Calypte anna (R.Lesson, 1829) · Aves
  92,410
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  82,707
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  75,985
• White-crowned Sparrow

  Zonotrichia leucophrys (J.R.Forster, 1772) · Aves
  74,598
• Black Phoebe

  Sayornis nigricans (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  69,482
• Western Gull

  Larus occidentalis Audubon, 1839 · Aves
  67,055
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  63,639
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  60,805

Most recent

• M 3.6 — 2026-06-07
  3 km SW of Alamo, CA
• M 2.65 — 2026-06-04
  7 km E of Fremont, CA
• M 2.72 — 2026-05-10
  2 km ESE of Pinole, CA
• M 2.52 — 2026-05-02
  20 km SE of Livermore, CA
• M 2.77 — 2026-04-30
  14 km N of Morgan Hill, CA
• M 2.62 — 2026-04-26
  16 km E of Seven Trees, CA