<P> The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All - America Football Conference ( AAFC ) and joined the NFL in 1949 when the leagues merged . The 49ers were the first major league professional sports franchise based in San Francisco . The name `` 49ers '' comes from the prospectors who arrived in Northern California in the 1849 Gold Rush . The team is legally and corporately registered as the San Francisco Forty Niners . The team began play at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco before moving across town to Candlestick Park in 1970 and then to Levi 's Stadium in Santa Clara in 2014 . </P>
how did the san francisco 49ers get their name
prospectors who arrived in Northern California in the 1849 Gold Rush