Almanac note · History and culture
Sign Hill turns South San Francisco's old slogan into a walk
South San Francisco's Sign Hill carries the famous 'The Industrial City' sign, but the hillside is also a 65-acre open space with rare plants and habitat.
South San Francisco has one of the Bay Area’s plainest and most memorable landmarks: the big hillside letters that read “The Industrial City.” The sign was built in 1923 after the Chamber of Commerce commissioned it, and local high school students helped put it on the hill. It became such a strong local marker that it was later listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The sign can make the place sound all business, but the hill itself adds a different layer. Sign Hill is also a 65-acre park, with trails, views, native plants, and habitat tied to the mission blue butterfly. The combination is very South San Francisco: industry, neighborhoods, bay views, and patches of rare open space close together.
It is a good reminder that city slogans can outlive the economy that made them famous. South San Francisco still has a strong workday identity, especially around biotech and nearby airport jobs, but the hillside sign now works as history, civic pride, and trail marker at the same time.
If you notice the letters from the freeway or BART, they are part of the city’s public memory: a century-old local signature still watching over the hill.
Where to see it
Sign Hill Park and the hillside sign above South San Francisco.
Official sources
Official source trail
Reviewed July 5, 2026
California Porch explains the path. The official source is still the place to confirm the current rule, fee, form, map, deadline, or office decision.
Use the official page before you spend money, file paperwork, rely on a deadline, or change a property.
Connected places
Where it fits on the map
Open a place page for the county layer, nearby places, and other California entries tied to that local page.
Related notes
Keep following this thread.
These are picked from nearby places, shared tags, and the same California topic shelf.
South San Francisco's biotech story grew from an industrial city
South San Francisco is known as the birthplace of biotechnology, with Genentech's 1976 start helping shift an older industrial city into a major life-science center.
Read next →Free South City Shuttle links the hill, downtown, and transit
South San Francisco's free shuttle runs on weekdays and links local stops with SamTrans, BART, Caltrain, downtown, parks, stores, and civic destinations.
Read next →South San Francisco permit work starts at the Permit Center
South San Francisco routes building permits, plan submittals, inspections, business licenses, and many over-the-counter permit types through its Permit Center and online portal.
Read next →