Clay St Plaques - San Francisco, CA
Posted by: 
saopaulo1
N 37° 47.679 W 122° 24.220
10S E 552502 N 4183198
A set of 5 plaques on Clay St in San Francisco.
Waymark Code: WM4PH5
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 09/15/2008
Views: 47
"[On the left side of Clay St.] Notice the five plaques on the side (Clay Street) and front of the California National Bank Building (601 Montgomery). These illustrated plaques detail the history of the famous Pony Express.
The first express service from San Francisco east was Brannan's. In 1848, he organized one to carry copies of his newspaper east, using Mormon battalion men as riders. He sent 2,000 copies of his newspaper from San Francisco on April 3, 1848. His article on the gold discovery "was reprinted in Missouri in July, and in New York City in August, more than three months after they left San Francisco. Overland mail stage later reduced the time to 23 days and the Pony Express to as little as seven days.
Many of the riders were Mormon. Mail delivered via Pony Express from the East took 10 to 13 days. One hundred twenty riders using 190 stations made a record time of the nearly 2000 miles on March 4, 1861, bringing Lincoln's inaugural address in only 7 days and 17 hours. The last stage, Sacramento to San Francisco, was by steamboat. The Pony Express operated for only 19 months before being replaced by the telegraph that revolutionized communications. The Pony Express was in operation from April 3, 1860 to October 26, 1861." (
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