50 free San Francisco trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
49 free San Francisco trivia questions with answers. San Francisco packs a lot of landmarks into seven square miles, and this quiz covers them. Fifty questions run through the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, the cable cars, Lombard Street and the Painted Ladies; the 1906 earthquake and the Gold Rush that built the city; sourdough, Ghirardelli and Rice-A-Roni; Haight-Ashbury and the Summer of Love; and the 49ers, Giants and Warriors. Easy questions ask which bridge is painted International Orange and which island held a famous prison; the hard ones want who engineered the bridge, how many hairpin turns Lombard Street has, and what the Giants' World Series years were. Good for a trivia night, a class on California, or anyone who loves the city by the bay. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the city and its landmarks, and each question carries the sentence that backs it up.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What colour is the Golden Gate Bridge painted?
International Orange
The US Navy had wanted black and yellow stripes; architect Irving Morrow picked the orange vermilion instead.
Q 02The Golden Gate Bridge opened to the public in which year?
1937
At the time it was both the longest and tallest suspension bridge in the world.
Q 03Who served as chief engineer of the Golden Gate Bridge?
Joseph Strauss
Moisseiff, Morrow and Ellis all made major design contributions.
Q 04Alcatraz Island served as a federal prison from 1934 until which year?
1963
The cold water and strong tides made escape nearly impossible.
Q 05Which famous gangster was held at Alcatraz?
Al Capone
Robert 'Birdman' Stroud and 'Machine Gun' Kelly were also inmates.
Q 06In 1969, Alcatraz was occupied for over 19 months by protesters from which group?
Native Americans
The American Indian Movement joined the occupation that began that November.
Q 07San Francisco is home to the world's last manually operated version of which transit vehicle?
Cable car
Of 23 lines built in the 19th century, only three survive.
Q 08The city's first successful cable car line, the Clay Street Hill Railroad, opened in which year?
1873
Andrew Hallidie's design became the template for cable systems everywhere.
Q 09Lombard Street is famous for a steep block with how many hairpin turns?
Eight
The switchbacks, built in 1922, tamed a natural 27 percent grade too steep for cars.
Q 10The colourful Victorian houses known as the 'Painted Ladies' stand across from which park?
Alamo Square
The row on Steiner Street is also called Postcard Row and appeared in Full House.
Q 11The 1906 San Francisco earthquake had an estimated magnitude of what?
7.9
Fires afterward destroyed over 80 percent of the city.
Q 12The 1906 disaster holds the grim record as the deadliest US example of what?
A quake
More than 3,000 people died.
Q 13San Francisco takes its name from which saint?
Francis of Assisi
The Spanish founded Mission San Francisco de Asís in 1776.
Q 14San Francisco was founded by settlers from where in 1776?
Q 21The Haight-Ashbury neighbourhood became the centre of which 1960s movement?
The hippie counterculture
The 1967 Summer of Love is forever linked to it.
Q 22The famous burst of 1960s idealism centred on the Haight is known as what?
The Summer of Love
It happened in 1967.
Q 23San Francisco's Chinatown is notable as the oldest in which region?
North America
It is centred on Grant Avenue and Stockton Street.
Q 24Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf is famous for a colony of which animals?
New Spain
They established the Presidio at the Golden Gate and the mission a few miles away.
Q 15The California Gold Rush began in 1848 when gold was found at a sawmill owned by whom?
John Sutter
James W. Marshall spotted it at Sutter's Mill in Coloma on January 24, 1848.
Q 16The gold-seekers who flooded California were nicknamed what, after the peak year?
Forty-niners
1849 was the peak year for gold rush immigration.
Q 17San Francisco's signature bread is which tangy variety?
Sourdough
French bakers brought the technique during the Gold Rush; the 49ers mascot is even called Sourdough Sam.
Q 18The Transamerica Pyramid was San Francisco's tallest building from 1972 until which year?
2017
The 48-storey skyscraper sits in the Financial District.
Q 19Coit Tower overlooks the bay from which San Francisco neighbourhood?
Telegraph Hill
Lillie Hitchcock Coit's bequest paid for it; despite the legend, it was not designed to look like a fire hose nozzle.
Q 20The Palace of Fine Arts was built for which 1915 world's fair?
The Panama-Pacific International Exposition
Its huge open rotunda is enclosed by a lagoon in the Marina District.
Sea lions
They started hauling out on its marina docks after the 1989 earthquake.
Q 25One famous San Francisco park covers how many acres, making it larger than New York's Central Park?
1,017
It draws about 24 million visitors a year.
Q 26Which NFL team plays in the San Francisco area, having won five Super Bowls?
The 49ers
Their name honours the Gold Rush forty-niners; they now play in Santa Clara.
Q 27Which quarterback led the 49ers to four of their Super Bowl titles in the 1980s?
Joe Montana
Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott and coach Bill Walsh were part of that dynasty too.
Q 28The San Francisco Giants moved to the city in 1958 from where?
New York
They had been the New York Giants, playing at the Polo Grounds.
Q 29The Giants won three World Series in a five-year span in which years?
2010, 2012 and 2014
Manager Bruce Bochy oversaw the dynasty.
Q 30The Golden State Warriors moved to the Bay Area in 1962 from which city?
Philadelphia
They changed their geographic name to Golden State in 1971 and now play at Chase Center.