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Golden Gate

(Encyclopedia)Golden Gate, strait, 4 mi (6.4 km) long and 1 to 2 mi (1.6–3.2 km) wide, linking San Francisco Bay with the Pacific Ocean. It was discovered in 1579 by the English explorer Sir Francis Drake. Known ...

Coolidge Dam

(Encyclopedia)Coolidge Dam, 249 ft (76 m) high, 920 ft (280 m) long, on the Gila River, SE Ariz.; built 1927–28. It irrigates c.100,000 acres (40,470 hectares), half of which are Native American lands in San Carl...

National City

(Encyclopedia)National City, city (1990 pop. 54,249), San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1887. Structural metal is fabricated, and there is shipbuilding and the manufacture of recycling machinery, plas...

Central Valley project

(Encyclopedia)Central Valley project, central Calif., long-term general scheme for the utilization of the water of the Sacramento River basin in the north for the benefit of the farmlands of the San Joaquin Valley ...

Camino Real, El

(Encyclopedia)Camino Real, El [Span.,=The Royal Road]. There are Camino Reals in most former Spanish possessions, including four in former Spanish territory in the United States. Probably the best-known American tr...

Milpitas

(Encyclopedia)Milpitas mĭlˌpēˈtəs [key], city (1990 pop. 50,686), Santa Clara co., W Calif., a suburb of San Jose, southeast of San Francisco; inc. 1954. Manufactures include computers and paint. Fruits, veget...

Colma

(Encyclopedia)Colma, city (2020 pop. 1,483), San Mateo co., W Calif., a suburb S of San Francisco, on Colma Creek, inc. 1924 as Lawndale, renamed 1941. Shopping ...

Milk, Harvey

(Encyclopedia)Milk, Harvey, 1931–78, U.S. politician and gay-rights activist. When elected (1977) to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, he was the first acknowledged homosexual to win high local office in th...

Novato

(Encyclopedia)Novato nōväˈtō [key], residential city (1990 pop. 47,585), Marin co., W Calif., N of San Fransisco on San Pablo Bay; inc. 1960. In a farming and dairying area, it produces cosmetics, metal product...

Hayward

(Encyclopedia)Hayward. <1> City (2020 pop. 162,954), Alameda co., W Calif.; settled 1851, inc. 1876. It is an important commercial and distribution center for ...