San Francisco - Downtown

No other city in America has such a magnificent official and administrative center as San Francisco. Its focal point is the square-shaped Civic Center Plaza around which are grouped various buildings - the huge City Hall, the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, the War Memorial Opera House and Veterans' Building, the Civic Auditorium, the Main Public Library, the Federal Building, the Federal Office Building, the State Office Building, etc.

Alamo Square is one of the most photographed areas of San Francisco. The Victorian homes form what is known as "postcard row".

The Civic Auditorium, the oldest building in the Civic Center, occupies the south side of Civic Center Plaza. Together with its extension, Brooks Hall, constructed in 1958, the Auditorium serves the city as a conference center. The Auditorium itself seats 8,000 and was built in 1915 for the great Panama-Pacific Exhibition. The architect was Arthur Brown Jr. who also designed the City Hall (with John Bakewell), the War Memorial Opera House and the Veterans' Building.

This California State office building has an attractive curved modern design. It complements the architecture of the San Francisco Opera House and Civic Center across the street.

Dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of cartoon art in all forms, the Cartoon Art Museum boasts a collection of approximately 11,000 original pieces in its permanent collection.

Fleur de Lys is a romantic French restaurant located in downtown San Francisco. This popular restaurant features a garden tent in the center of the dining room with a venetian chandelier.

Gump's is the oldest Asian art dealer in San Francisco. The Gump brothers opened their shop in 1861. A Ch'ing Dynasty gilded wood Buddha located on the first floor of Gump's remains the largest of its kind outside of a museum.

Attraction is closed.

Levi Strauss came to San Francisco in the 1860s to make blue canvas work pants for gold miners. The tours of the factory that were once offered have been discontinued.

This new museum is the first devoted exclusively to the city's history. Its collection consists of photographs, town plans, paintings and objects of civic interest such as the statue of the Goddess of Progress which graced the dome of the old City Hall destroyed in the 1906 earthquake.

The Old Mint, erected between 1873 and 1874, was one of the few buildings in the Mission Street area not only to withstand the 1906 earthquake but to do so unscathed.

Several of its rooms have today been restored to their appearance in the 19th century, most notably the director's office.

Pioneer Hall, near the Civic Center in San Francisco, houses the museum and library of the Society of Californian Pioneers, devoted chiefly to the early Pioneer Hall (pre-1869) history of California. There are historical documents and exhibits of various kinds, including a number of coaches.

Scholars researching the history of California are allowed access to the comprehensive library and large photograph collection.

The San Francisco Art Commission was formed in 1932 to provide support for the arts in the city. The Gallery displays the work of Bay area artists.

This museum in the Standard Oil Company of California building will fascinate anybody interested in the story of oil from its discovery to the development of its countless by-products.

The history of oil is depicted to visitors by means of models of the equipment used in the oil-fields and by three dioramas. There is also an 18 minute multi-media show called "Magic of a Refinery" which is put on several times a day. It requires no fewer than 26 projectors.

Telephone Pioneer Communications Museum features antique telephones, memorabilia and the history of telephones.

Jesuits founded the University of San Francisco in 1855. Originally known as St. Ignatius Academy, the university recovered from the 1906 San Francisco fire and earthquake, which destroyed the institution.

Zuni Cafe and Grill in the Civic Center area of San Francisco serves fresh seafood and an Italian-Mediterranean menu. There is an excellent oyster bar as well.