28.8.08

F I R S TP R E V840NEXTLAST

City Lights Reverie, Union Square
Well before it ever dazzled visitors, Union Square was an enormous sand bank known as O'Farrell's Mountain. In the 1850s the massive dune was leveled, first by Irish laborers and then by steam-driven machines nicknamed 'paddies' after the workers they replaced. The first buildings around the square were churches and private clubs but by the 1900s they had been relocated and Union Square became the center of shopping and hotels in San Francisco.

In 1997 the square underwent a $25 million dollar redesign named Toward a More Perfect Union which featured the signature giant palm trees, open-air café seating, and an orchestra-sized stage. Today the large, 2.6 acre square is the ceremonial home to San Francisco, serving as the site for public events such as the annual cable car bell-ringing contest as wells as the city's Christmas tree and Menorah.

TRIVIA QUESTION: Union Square is one of the three oldest squares in San Francisco. What are the other two?

TRIVIA ANSWER

[ MAP G-15 ]


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