Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Across Market Street from here is
the San Francisco branch of the
Federal
Reserve
(101 Market St.;
%
415/974
-
3252; http://frbsf.org),
which runs
intermittent tours and has an extensive
collection of antique American cur-
rency. Arranging a visit would be a has-
sle except for anyone fascinated with
finance, but there is a quick exhibition
in the lobby's west end (how to spot a
counterfeit, that sort of thing) that
might be worth a few minutes' dabble.
Continue down Market Street, staying
on the right-hand (northern) side.
5
California to Montgomery
streets
The going gets faster now. Three blocks
on, where Market, Battery, and Bush
streets converge, you'll find the
Mechanics Monument, a tribute to
laborers created in 1901 by sculptor
Douglas Tilden, who happened to be
both deaf and mute. Made of bronze, it
somehow made it through the 1906
fire (there are some striking archival
photos of this statue standing proudly
amidst a field of rubble), but it's fun to
imagine that the flames burned off all
the clothes of the manly men depicted.
Only in San Francisco would an iron-
worker let any of his bits dangle. (Guess
what? Locals were scandalized by this
artwork, too—they objected to the
nudity.)
Just behind the intersection of
Sutter and Sansome streets, the
Romanesque, 22-floor tower at 111
Sutter St., built in 1927, was the loca-
tion of detective Sam Spade's office in
The Maltese Falcon.
For years, the beau-
tiful geometric painting of birds on the
ceiling of its lobby was hidden by accu-
mulated cigarette smoke and soot, but
a recent renovation restored the archi-
tectural glories of this building, which
was designed by the same men behind
the Waldolf=Astoria in Manhattan.
Past the elevators, you'll find a small
exhibition, assembled by an enthusias-
tic employee named Tony (ask if he's
handy—he's often in the lobby) that
includes background on the building
and Sam Spade, plus an original finial
that was removed from the parapet.
Just past Sansome back on Market,
you'll see a sight that's very unusual for
San Francisco: a McDonald's. Don't
stop for a burger; I'm making a point
here. The prevailing wisdom in town is
that formula stores spell bad news for a
thriving community, so companies that
wish to open here usually face an obsta-
cle course of permissions and permits,
which they almost never obtain. And
even when they do open, as a Gap did
in Haight-Ashbury in the early 2000s,
they're often rejected and soon close.
But I'm sure you can't blame locals for
feeling this way now that you've tasted
the wonders of independent foods at
the Ferry Building.
Proceed another block to Mont-
gomery. Douglas Tilden, he of the
naked ironworkers, also created this
statue, unveiled in 1897 to commemo-
rate Californian statehood, which came
about in 1850. It originally stood where
Mason reaches Market but was shifted
here in 1977. Strangely, its western side
has an octopus on it; I suspect it's a ref-
erence to the Southern Pacific Railroad,
which at the time was often likened to
the animal because of its many-tenta-
cled reach and strangling death grip on
anything that crossed its path. It would
have been strange to include a jab at a
major company on a public monument
of this sort, but it would also be typical
of San Francisco's habit of thumb-nos-
ing the powerful. And I suppose it's no
stranger than smelting something in
your birthday suit.
Cross Market Street where you can,
and continue down Market Street.
