F I R S TP R E V848NEXTLAST

The Crazy Optimism of Market Street
In 1847 when San Francisco had a population of just 400 settlers, town engineer Jasper O'Farrell came up with an insane plan for a 'Market Street'. He envisioned the sleepy pioneer camp having a magnificent diagonally-running boulevard, 120-foot wide and three miles long stretching from the waterfront to Mission Delores. He based his design on the grand Champs-Elysées in Paris. What made this plan even more crazy was the proposed boulevard was to be located a half mile from the town center and its path was blocked by 90-foot tall sand dunes.

Amazingly within a two years gold was discovered and tens of thousands of new residents poured to tiny San Francisco. Within a few years the sand dunes had been leveled, and O'Farrell's vision was realized when Market Street was built to accommodate the growing metropolis. In 1917 the beautiful triple-light lampposts, shown above, were installed along the entire length of Market Street. Known as the 'Path of Gold Lampposts' their bas-relief bases honor the city's gold miners and pioneers who dreamed of, and built, San Francisco.
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