Now: Even the most jaded inner neighborhood residents can't deny the beauty of this place where green lawns meet the waters of the bay. Joggers and kites and city visitors drawn to the Golden Gate Bridge are always here. The Wave Organ, at the tip of the Yacht Club peninsula, is a unique functional art installment.The Marina's commercial strip, Chestnut Street, has some sweet and justifiably popular eating and drinking options.

Then: The Palace of Fine Arts was built (on landfill, over a lagoon) for the Panama-Pacific Exhibition (World's Fair), held in San Francisco in 1915. The rest of the structures built for the Exhibition were demolished and Marina streets (north of North Point Street) and homes were built during the 1920s.