Now: Slicing crookedly through the bottom of the Financial District, Lower Market is the busiest section of the street during the week. From the Embarcadero to the San Francisco Centre mall, history both original and re-made flows through and towers over you. Don't miss seeing the inside of the gorgeous Palace Hotel, and Lotta's Fountain, across the street.
Then: Market Street was laid down in the mid-1800s, when San Francisco had just been claimed and renamed from Yerba Buena. No time was wasted in the construction of tall buildings and hotels along the street, as images from the period show. See related postcards.
How To Get There: Any of three Muni/BART stations (Powell, Montgomery, Embarcadero) stops at points along the lower section of Market Street. You'll want to get here this way, as parking is close to impossible around the busy areas of Market Street.
Market Street
Aldo Accessories on Market, near Powell
Storefronts on Market, part of the Westfield San Francisco Centre Mall
Nordstrom at the west side of the San Francisco Centre Mall
Bloomingdales, inside the mall
Cocola, on the mall's top floor
Lotta's Fountain and the Palace Hotel
Lotta's Fountain, across from the Palace Hotel on Market Street
Motorcycle Parking at the end of Battery Street, off Market
Market Street at 4th Street, near Stockton Street
Market Street at the entrance to Yerba Buena Lane
The Crocker Galleria shopping center, bordered by Post, Montgomery, and Sutter - its southeast corner edges out onto Market Street
Shops inside Crocker Galleria
The rooftop garden at Crocker Galleria, accessible by stairway
The F Streetcar on Market Street
Another impressive building occupied by Wells Fargo Bank
The Hyatt Regency Hotel near the end of Market Street (at Drumm Street/Embarcadero)
Portico IV - one of several in the vicinity
Specialty's Bakery - a lunch spot with multiple locations
Yank Sing, Chinese cuisine
Market Street at Main Street, facing west
Comment about Lower Market Street here: