Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
6. JACKSON SQUARE
Renovated in the 1950s, this neighborhood right next to the
Transamerica Pyramid
contains some of San Francisco's oldest buildings. In the 19th century the area was
notorious for its squalor, and was nicknamed the “Barbary Coast,” but brothels and
drinking establishments have given way today to upscale offices and the city's most
lavish antiques shops. The blocks around Jackson Street and Hotaling Place feature
many original brick, cast-iron, and granite façades.
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7. CIVIC CENTER
The city's administrative center is an excellent example of grand Beaux Arts taste and
illustrates San Franciscans' pride in their city (for further details see
Civic Center
)
.
It is perhaps the most ambitious and elaborate city center complex in the US and
it continues to undergo enhancements. Besides the imposing City Hall, with its vast
rotunda, gold-leaf detailing, and formal gardens, the area also includes the War
Memorial Opera House, the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, the Herbst Theater
(for further details see
Performing Arts Venues
), the State Building, the New Main
Library, and the monumental Old Main Library, re-inaugurated as the Asian Art Mu-
seum.
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8. UNION SQUARE
This important square, which gets its name from the pro-Union rallies held here in
the early 1860s, has a $25-million upgraded look that includes performance spaces,
grassy terraces, and improved parking. It is now the center for high-end shopping.
Located with the edges of the Financial District on one side and the Theater Dis-
trict on the other (for further details see
Union Square
)
, it is at its most picturesque
along Powell Street, where the cable cars pass right in front of the historic St Francis
Hotel. The column in the center commemorates Admiral Dewey's victory at Manila
Bay during the Spanish-American War of 1898.
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