In 1775 when the first white men rowed a longboat from the Spanish ship San Carlos into Seashell Point (now Hunters Point) and set foot along the beach on the bay shore, they met a few Indians from villages to the south that are now Visitacion Valley and possibly Brisbane. These early inhabitants fished in the Bay and hunted game in the hills. Artifacts later found in and around the area of two quarries later excavated in the Valley proved this to be true.

However, it wasn't until 1776 that Juan Bautista de Anza traveled from the Mission at Monterey, under orders of the Viceroy of Spain, to select a location for a small settlement that would eventually become San Francisco, accidently turned inland from the ocean and traveled along the western shore of the Bay, and came upon the peninsula that was part of the Valley. 

Little else of the area is known until 1777, when according to tradition, some soldiers and Franciscan friars traveling the King's Highway from San Diego to the Presidio in San Francisco became lost in heavy fog. They wandered into the hills east of the highway to spend the night. In the morning when the fog cleared, they gazed down upon a beautiful valley with the Bay at its feet. These friars called the locality Visitacion Valley, as the date was July 2, the Feast of the Blessed Mother. In thanksgiving, a mass was offered with the alter a large rock. Today it is called Indian Rock, and is located in a backyard on Delta Street near Visitacion Avenue.

From that time on until 1835, the Valley was used as a pasture for longhorn cattle, horses, mules, sheep, pigs and goats belonging to Mission Dolores and the Presidio. During the Mexican period, the Mission released its controlled territory to private enterprise; anyone could apply for land grants. 

And in 1839, Jacob Primer Lesse, an American from Ohio applied for a grant. He obtained 9,500 acres that took in Visitacion Valley to Brisbane. He named his grant the Rancho Canada Guadalupe, La Visitacion y Rodeo Viejo, and took possession by putting cattle on the land and building two houses – one located in Visitacion Valley where his mayordomo and Indian herders lived. A few years later when the U.S. government was established in California, the land grant was confirmed and he divided the acreage into smaller parcels. 

Henry Schwerin, a German baker, arrived in 1850 and bought several hundred acres just below the San Francisco-San Mateo county line, just south of what is now Geneva Avenue. He had a large herd of dairy cows where the Cow Palace parking lot is now located. Schwerin also started a horticultural nursery and sold flowers to the San Francisco Flower Mart.  About this time, other settlers began to farm the area and thus began the large truck gardens and nurseries that flourished until World War II. For irrigation, picturesque windmills were used to pump the water. 

Another holder of a large tract was Francis L.A. Pioche, who is said to have started San Francisco's tradition of fine restaurants. He imported 40 Parisian chefs and a boatload of French wines so San Franciscans could find out for themselves what frog's legs a la poulette tasted like, so they would know what vintage champagne was, and how to recognize the fragrance of Sazerac brandy..." Monsieur Pioche brought French interests into the Valley when he borrowed six million francs from friends in Paris to finance several enterprises in California, including the purchase of land that became known as the French Gardens. 

Today, Schwerin Street is in the general location of Henry Schwerin's original buildings, and Pioche Street is just outside Visitacion Valley.

In the mid-1850s and shortly after completinghis term of office as first Governor of the State of California (1850-1851), Peter H. Burnett built a large home on Sunnydale Avenue close to where the present Church of the Visitacion is now located.

Just after the Civil War, members of the Rossi family moved into the area and acquired a number of acres a number of acres of rich farming land. They were lated joined, in 1880, by John Rossi who came to California by way of Panama and then up the coast on a train operated by the French. The Rossi family developed their property by hand labor into large vegetable gardens, later forming an association with other landowners and hiring farm hands to do the heavy work for them. Property owned by the Rossi family was part of the first section in the Valley to be divided into residential lots in the early 1900s. The hills continued to be used as grazing land for cattle and horses for some 20 years longer as the family remained in the Valley. One son, Virginio, had a pharmacy on Leland Avenue until 1970, when his daughter took over. Another son's wife was the attendance officer for the Unified School District for years. A daughter became a well-known doctor, Dr. Jennings. The last of the Rossi family, Florence, died in 1983.

By 1860, the San Bruno Toll Road, a predecessor to Bayshore Boulevard was established, connecting with El Camino Real at San Bruno. A toll gate was located at the Seven-Mile House, just south of Geneva Avenue with its main traffic consisting of milkers who worked on dairy farms in Visitacion Valley, Brisbane and South San Francisco. Vehicles then used were horses and wagons and the road was so narrow that a driver had to pull the wagon into the deep grass to let another wagon pass.

Industry came to Visitacion Valley in 1876 when investor W.C. Ralston organized the Union Pacific Silk Manufacturing Company with a capital of $250,000. Every week the factory turned out about $6,000 worth of silk ribbons. A few years later the company moved to larger facilities in South San Francisco.

By 1890, the Pacific Coal and Fertilizer Company was in operation close to the water's edge and was called "the bone yard" by the local residents. Also at that time, a brewery located on the present Bayshore Boulevard was selling pitchers of beer for five cents. 

In the late 1890s, the cattlemen were ordered to remove the fences that blocked roads, and soon streets opened the Valley to roadhouses, restaurants and saloons. The Five-Mile House at Wilde and San Bruno avenues will always be remembered as the start of the streetcar line to Market Street.

Located at what is now Bayshore Boulevard and Sunnydale Avenue,  "Pop" Blanken's Six-Mile House, was a popular meeting place for politicians, businessmen and professional people. This popular establishment was a resort, offering hotel accommodations, a restaurant and bar, livery stable and recreation such as: trap and rifle shooting, shuffleboard and bowling. Its true claim to fame, however, was a training headquarters for prize fighters – among these, Jim Jefferies, Jack Johnson, "Gentleman Jim" Corbett and Sam Langford. The original building stood until 1938 when it was torn down in order to create space for a garage and gas station. 

Eisele's Restaurant was famous for its free steamed clams, served with beer. Clam beds were staked out and worked in an area now occupied by a former building of the Schlage Lock Company. Later, when the Southern Pacific Railroad laid track east of the road, the land gradually dried out and filled in.

There were several saloons at the county line. It was said that you could stand in one county and play the slot machines in the other. And for gamblers, money could be won – or lost – on cock fights at "Beefsteak Bill's." Rumor also has it that Mammy Pleasant had one of her houses in the Valley.

The two inns in the area – in addition to the Six-Mile House – were the Visitacion Valley Hotel at the county line and the Bay Shore Hotel at Leland Avenue and Bayshore. 

The first school in the Sunny Vale Public School District opened in September, 1896. A few years later it was given the name of Visitacion Valley School – after a session in court when it was decided that the Valley should retain its old Spanish name of "Visitacion." However, when the new sign for the school was delivered, it was discovered that the Board of Education had misspelled the name, calling it "Visitation."

Florence Friedman, was one of the school's early 1900s instructors who remained a teacher until 1918, when she became the first director of the newly established Visitacion Valley Community Center. She remained director of the Community Center for 41 years until her retirement in 1959.

By 1905, "the finest building sites" could be purchased for as little as $125 – $1 down and $1 a week. Charles A. Louis was the sales agent for this property, known as the Reis Tract, which was the largest housing development in the Valley at that time. He maintained an office on Leland Avenue and later in his home until his death in 1961. His daughter, Florence Louis, later continued in the real estate and insurance business. The Louis family also had a dry goods store. 

Construction in Visitacion Valley gained momentum during the great fire and earthquake of Apr. 18, 1906. Damage was minor in the Valley, and refugees from the center of San Francisco crowded into the small houses of relatives and friends or lived in shacks in the area until they could build new homes. Some residents recalled that the butcher shop served as the distribution point for food and clothing for these homeless people.

A few years later, the Valley had lost a number of its temporary residents who returned to their former neighborhoods. Yet other families remained, and there was a slow but steady gain in population as newcomers discovered the charm of the small-town community. Those were the years that the local lumber yard thrived, supplying the building needs in the Valley and providing enough sawdust to fill Sunnydale Avenue from the present Bayshore Boulevard all the way to Mission Street.

In those days, roads were sandy in the summer and muddy in the winter, as very few streets had any kind of surfacing. To accommodate its customers, the local grocery store had its own delivery service. There were also two house-to-house vendors of fresh fruits and vegetables: Joe Marsala, and the father and son team of Steve and George Zucca, who later ran a gas station on Bayshore Boulevard.

During the next 20 years, Visitacion Valley continued to develop as truck gardens gave way to modern housing. The pattern of the neighborhood became established asthe business section along Leland Avenue took shape. The Valley had its own Volunteer Hose Company and a Fireman's Hall, which for a period housed the Golden Gate Kindergarten. Electricity was beginning to replace coal oil lamps and gasoline lanterns.

In 1906, St. James Presbyterian Church was built on Leland Avenue, followed in 1907 by the Catholic Church of the Visitacion.

The "water works" for the community had its pumping station and office on Leland Avenue adjacent to the Bay Shore Hotel.

By 1910, the neighborhood was serviced by two streetcar lines that soon acquired assorted nicknames including: "Galloping Goose," and "Molasses Special." And Visitacion Valley was soon referred to as "Hesitation Valley" because of a long wait while streetcars were switched on a single track, not to mention the long delays at transfer points.

On May 18, 1905, the Visitacion Valley Improvement Club made a name for itself with many community projects and continued for years to promote many programs aimed for the betterment of the community. Longtime realtor and businessman Henry Schindel served for many years as its president and made his home on Schwerin Street. He also was president of the Valley's Merchants Association for more than two decades.

San Francisco's first motel was located in Visitacion Valley on the Burnett farm on Sunnydale Avenue. Called the San Francisco Auto Camp, it was located in a grove of trees with a garden setting. There were 40 cabins and plenty of tent space with accommodations for up to 300 cars. The Auto Camp remained until 1964, when it was torn down to construct the new Church of the Visitacion. The Burnett home was torn down in 1964 to build the parish school and in the process, 200 trees were destroyed  – one planted by President McKinley, another by Admiral Dewey, and some by many other famous Americans.

For entertainment, various clubs and service organizations had whist parties, dances, minstrel shows and bazaars at the Bay Shore Hall above Anderson's Coal Yard on Leland Avenue, at the Fireman's Hall on Wilde Avenue, at the Alpine Hall on Raymond Avenue, and in the Six-Mile House gymnasium.

There were "flickers" at five cents a show at the Nickelodeon on Raymond Avenue. The old movie theater was constructed of sheet metal with fireproof walls embrossed with designs. There was a player piano and a blue mercury lamp out front to attract attention. A major feature was Amateur Night.

Children hiked through the hills and picnicked on all the scenic ridges. And it was always great spot in the spring to slide down hill over the slippery grass in a large cardboard carton. They waded and swam in the Bay, watched the dismantling of old ships from the "ships' graveyard" at the Johnson-Brown wharf, and took pride in showing off the local curiosity: a private home called the "boathouse," as its paneled walls were made of doors salvaged from ships.

Youngsters earned extra spending money by catching frogs and gathering watercress which they sold to the local restaurants and by peddling bouquets of wild flowers from door-to-door. Their bank accounts also grew steadily as they made weekly deposits through a school savings program sponsored by the Bank of Italy (later to become the Bank of Ameirca). Parents took advantage of this accommodation by adding to their children's deposits at a time when there was no other banking service in the Valley.

Sports activities included basketball in the gymnasium of the Presbyterian Church and baseball on a diamond near the corner of what is now Bayshore Boulevard and Blanken Avenue.

In 1905, the Southern Pacific Company started to build a tunnel adjacent to Bayshore Boulevard  and to fill the land along the Bay. First track of the Bayshore cutoff was laid by 1907, with a roundhouse completed by 1917.

A gas plant in the Valley – later to be known as Pacific Gas and Electric Company – was built by 1905 just south of the county line. The building still stands today at the southeast corner of Geneva Avenue and Schwerin Street.

The Bodinson Manufacturing Company bought its first property in the area in 1924 and started to manufacture custom mining machinery and material handling equipment the following year.

The Schlage Company purchased its first 2.5 acres of property from Bodinson and completed its factory building by June, 1925 and administrative headquarters shortly thereafter. In 1926, its name was changed to Schlage Lock Company, a fixture in Visitacion Valley for 75 years.

Just to the east of the Valley were many acres of empty land where houses started to spring up during the 1930s, some with blueprints that might have previously been used for residential construction in Hollywood, with the quaint new neighborhood dubbed Little Hollywood.

Boasting a concrete and steel roof covering nearly six acres, the Cow Palace was completed just south of the county line along Woolbridge Street (now Geneva Avenue) in 1941 and held its first Grand National Rodeo in November of that year.

Also in 1941, San Francisco completed construction of the Sunnydale Projects, a large housing complex on the Valley's west side that later became home to many returning servicemen after World War II.

Visitacion Valley Elementary School completed construction of its new facility on Schwerin Street in 1936. Wilson High School, which was built in 1963 on Mansell Street, later became John and Sala Burton High in 1994.

In 1971, Visitacion Valley Middle School was completed along Raymond Avenue on a hill overlooking the neighborhood..

For years, beginning in 1966, the Valley's skyline was dominated by two 20-story buildings at Sunnydale Avenue and Schwerin Street known as Geneva Towers. They served mostly as low-income housing until their removal on May 16, 1998 to make way for the low-rise Heritage Homes. 

To the west of Visitacion Valley is McLaren Park, a 315-acre setting, in the process, by degree, to become a thing of beauty with tennis courts, a golf course, and bike and hiking paths.

History adapted from archives of Schlage Lock Company, the Lock and Key magazine, and a speech by Fermene Coturri.