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F I R S TP R E V176NEXTLAST

Levi Plaza, Battery Street
In 1853 Levi Strauss fashioned tent canvas into 22ยข 'waist overalls' that would hold up to the wear and tear of gold mining. Eventually he switched to tough blue cotton from Nimes, France, called serge de Nimes, which became 'denims'. The term 'jeans' came from the similarity the pants had to those worn by Genoese sailors. By 1866 his business had boomed and he moved his headquarters here to the base of Telegraph Hill. The plaza fountain is made of granite from the Sierra Nevadas where miners first used his jeans. Resting underneath the fountain is the ship, 'Palmyra' abandoned by hopeful fortune-seekers during the gold rush.
[ MAP E-15 ]


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