History of Union Square, San Francisco

Considered as Landmark of San Francisco, The Union Square has history stretching back to the era of US Civil Wars. The square was named after housing many pro-union rallies in the period of Civil War. Since its construction, Union Square has undergone many changes adding to its beauty and strength.

A symbol of Residence

While creating outline for city San Francisco on paper, Jasper O’Farrell marked Union Square as a public gathering spot to make occupiers relax and enjoy a sip of hot coffee during tiring day. In 1880, the square was renowned as location for residential houses having rich and delicate designs. It was also surrounded by three churches facing their openings towards the square then.

The Earthquake

Earthquake in 1906 was responsible for changing the face of Union Square. Aftereffects of earthquake boosted construction of stores and offices around Union Square making it primary shopping spot of the city. Constructed in 1908, Hotel St. Francis is the tallest building facing square till date.

Underground Parking

Development in automobile industry increases rush of vehicles in downtown making it difficult to park cars near shopping centers in the square. Thus, Union Square Garage Corporation was formed who undertook the task of constructing first ever underground parking zone in the World.

Design of Union Square as that of today is result of international renovation competition held in 1997 to brighten up the square. It took $25 million and creative heads to bring the design live.

History of Golden Gate Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge, standing today as a symbol of human intelligence and determination, is undoubtedly one of the greatest architectural wonders built across the World till date. The bridge connects San Francisco with Marin County covering gigantic natural basin spread across 500 square miles with around 16 rivers emptying their water into it. Bridge stands against force of winds flowing with the speed of 60 miles an hour.

The Concept Came into Picture

History of Golden Gate Bridge stretches back in 1921 when Chicago trained engineer Joseph Strauss confidently put his idea to build bridge over Golden Gate for mere $27 million. The construction of bridge was opposed by diverse layers of society, including military, railroads and lodgers, for their own self-centered grounds and it resulted into rejection of his design. After a couple of years, Charles Ellis, professor at University of Illinois, redesigned the bridge as a part of Strauss’s team.

Construction became live!

The main hurdle in the construction was “flowing” Pacific Ocean in basin and winds of over 60 miles velocity. To build strong concrete base, they first built fenders in violent flow of water and then took out 35.6 million liters of water to fill the cavity with concrete.

The other major difficulty was finance. It took 10 years for design to come into reality when $35 million were raised from bonds. Construction began live in 1933 and then it took only 4 years for it to complete. The bridge was open to public in 1937 and since then it has been assisting over 41 millions crossing each year.