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Union Square Of San Francisco

Situated in the midst of one of the premier shopping districts of the world and abounding with retail stores, department stores, art galleries; an ideal place for enjoying a cup of coffee or a lunch, or just watching the people busy in shopping, the Union Square of San Francisco is the leading square of the city. Besides shopping and dinning, it is home to many theaters and cinemas like the Geary’s Theater and San Francisco Center etc. It is considered to be the heart of San Francisco since 1850. 

It is to be noted that the words Union Square also refer to the historical Union Square Park bordered by Geary Powell, Stockton, and Post Streets. The land of the park was sanctioned to the city by Colonel John Geary, the first mayor of San Francisco under the U.S. rule. There had been colossal mound of sand during the 1850s. The land between the base of this mound and Market Street was known as St Anne’s Valley. During the 1850s the region saw no noticeable development; it was largely used for baseball. The passage of Van Nesse Ordinance in 1855 ushered the square into a new era. It ordered the park commission to remodel the squares, parks, and of public buildings lying within the city. The first of all to receive attention was the Union Square and the large sand hill was finally leveled with steam paddies. 


                                             Union Square In The Heart Of San Fransisco

The present name of the square is derived from the huge rallies held at the spot to celebrate the Union victories. The Union Square Park was for the first time designed at sometime between 1870 and 1880 and it kept on being designed again and again several times Up till 1900, the land closely around the square was used mostly for residence, shops, and churches.

At the start of the twentieth century, in response to a movement for erecting a monument to commemorate the victory of the U.S. navy over the Spanish fleet by Commodore George Dewy at Manila in 1898, Union Square was chosen as the site for this monument. Thus the park was redesigned in preparation for Dew’s Monument in 1903. The monument designed by Robert Aitkin and Newton Thorp, consists of a 79 feet granite shaft upon which is mounted a bronze figure of a woman carrying a trident---- the symbol of the Sea God Poseidon and victory---- in her right hand, was erected in the center of the park. 

In the early 1900s, numerous shops, hotels, restaurants, and cinemas were constructed around the square. Most of them were perished in the great earthquake and fire of 1906. By the 1930s Union Square became the site of the first underground garage of the world. Beautiful views can be had from Harry Denton’s Starlight room in Sir Francis Drake Hotel and also from the shops surrounding the square. 

Location: 4VC9Q9HH+M8

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