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Ralston Memorial, Marina Green
Originally known as Harbor View, the Marina Green sits on the site of the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The long waterfront public green space is usually filled with joggers, dog-walkers, kite-flyers, and people recreating next to the Saint Francis and San Francisco Yacht clubs. A memorial to William Ralston centers the park. Ralston has been called the man who built San Francisco. Big and jovial, the banker, Ralston knew every one of his depositors by name. As far back as the 1860s he envisioned San Francisco as a great city and spent much of his own money building it. When California approached Ralston and asked to name a Central Valley town in his honor, he modestly declined. The state named the city 'Modesto', to honor him instead.
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