Historic Landmarks of San Francisco

San Francisco's first newspaper, the California Star, was published in an office on the southwest corner of Washington Street and Brenham Place, across the street from Portsmouth Square, on July 9, 1847. Sam Brannan, the publisher, who had come around Cape Horn the previous year on the Brooklyn, had brought the hand-operated press with him from New York. The first editor was Elbert P. Jones, after whom the San Francisco Street was named.

The first edition of the Star had four pages, measured thirteen by eighteen inches, and had three columns per page. The paper sold for 12½¢, came out every Saturday, and had an initial circulation of around 100.

The Star was not California's first newspaper. The honor goes to the Californian, first published in Monterey on August 15, 1846, by Walter Colton and Robert Semple.

The Star folded in June, 1848, a victim of the mass migration to the gold fields, and was later replaced by the Alta California as the City's leading tabloid.

The address is 743 Washington Street; the plaque is located on the front step of the building, currently the East West Bank.