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.