MARKET STREET

 

 

Slashing diagonally across San Francisco, Market Street intersects virtually every street in the downtown area.  Traffic flows in from the north, the west, and even from the southeast; in many cases, all three intersect Market at the same point!

Once nicknamed "The Slot," it has traditionally been viewed as the dividing line between the "haves" of the affluent northern neighborhoods, and the "have-nots" to the south.  Whether or not that's still true, Market remains the busiest, most eclectic street in San Francisco.  

Every era of San Francisco architecture is well represented on Market, with brand new skyscrapers standing alongside still-beautiful buildings past their 100th birthday.  Every strata of society can be found as well, from millionaires to the homeless and everyone in between.

MECHANICS PLAZA

The Donahue Monument was sculpted by Douglas Tilden, and features five causally dressed gentlemen working on some kind of large  mechanical doohickey.

It;s also a great place to experience the downtown area’s abundant wildlife.

MARKET & POWELL

Here’s what one of San Francisco’s most famous intersections looked like roughly a century ago, and today.  Many of the same buildings are still standing.

THEATER DISTRICT, CIRCA 1960

The middle portion of Market Street was once wall-to wall-to-wall movie theaters.  Over the decades, the bright lights faded away.

LOTTA’S FOUNTAIN

A San Francisco landmark since 1875. Over the years it’s been lengthened, shortened, neglected and restored.  Once in a while, it even has water flowing.  But not very often.

GETTING YOUR MESSAGE OUT THERE

It can be done with a few words, or a few thousand.

“LOOK UP!”

As my friend Mark Ellinger often points out, Market Street’s most interesting architectural details can be found by looking UP!

AS SEEN FROM TWIN PEAKS

From this vantage point, you can see virtually all of Market Street, from the Ferry Building to The Castro.

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Text and photographs (excluding those in public domain) © 2003-2012 by Mike Humbert.