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-
Every era of San Francisco architecture is well represented on Market, with brand
new skyscrapers standing alongside still-
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-
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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