San Mateo County Zip Codes

     South San Francisco occupies the basin and portions of the sides of a broad valley formed by the San Bruno Mountains on the north and the Coast Range on the west. Most of the valley faces adjacent San Francisco Bay, affording sweeping vistas, from higher levels and a definite sense of identification with the Bay. 

     South San Francisco offers its citizens a city in which to live comfortably in fine residential areas; a place of recreation in parks and marina; a place to work in more than 2,800 firms and businesses including many biotech companies such as Genentech which gives the city the title of "Birthplace of Biotechnology".

     South San Francisco was formerly part of Rancho Buriburi, a Mexican land grant designated in 1835. A man named Peter Ilner purchased this land in 1890, which eventually became known as South San Francisco.

     South San Francisco subsequently became heavily industrialized, with meatpacking, steel and other metal fabrication, chemical processing, and other manufacturing. The city has since become a centre of the biotechnology industry, which includes Genentech (founded 1976).

     South San Francisco boasts an attractive residential section with a view of San Francisco Bay. The most visible city attraction is a large sign, constructed in 1923, that reads “South San Francisco The Industrial City,” located on Sign Hill.