- San Rafael
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/san' reuh fel"/; for 1 also Sp. /sahn rddah'fah el"/1. a city in W Argentina. 70,477.2. a city in W California, N of San Francisco. 44,700.
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city, central Mendoza provincia (province), western Argentina, near the eastern base of the Andes on the Diamante River. It originated around San Rafael Fort, built in 1805 at the frontier then roughly marking the southern limits of European colonization. Pacification of area Indians in about 1870 enabled the city to be developed as the centre of an agricultural area producing grapes, fruits (peaches, plums, pears and apricots), and grains. Contemporary local enterprises include wineries, meat-packing plants, canneries, and dairies. Deposits of petroleum and uranium southwest of San Rafael are exploited, and dams to the west along the Diamante and Atuel rivers provide local irrigation water and hydroelectric power to the city of Mendoza. Pop. (2001) 106,386.city, seat (1893) of Marin county, western California, U.S. It lies on the northwestern shore of San Francisco Bay. The area developed around the Mission San Rafael Arcángel (1817; restored) as a ranch town. Growth was sustained by the arrival of the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad (1884; now Northwestern Pacific) and the founding of Dominican University of California (1890). Improved accessibility to San Francisco, located 15 miles (24 km) southeast, and the East Bay cities via the Golden Gate (Golden Gate Bridge) and Richmond–San Rafael bridges encouraged light industrial development. The Falkirk Cultural Center, housed in a late 19th-century mansion, contains an art gallery and a sculpture garden. To the north of the city is the Marin County Civic Center (an arched structure spanning four hills, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (Wright, Frank Lloyd)) and China Camp State Park, named for a late 19th-century shrimp-fishing village there. Muir Woods National Monument is southwest of the city, in Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Pop. (1990) 48,404; (2000) 56,063.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
