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San Francisco's Civic Center

Civic Center — begun in 1913 and heavily influenced by the City Beautiful movement — is in an area of San Francisco that was originally sand dunes. Now the area is home to many popular restaurants in addition to San Francisco public and Civic buildings. Yerba Buena Cemetery had occupied the land since 1850 until it had to be moved after shifting sands uncovered some of the graves.

The current City Hall was completed in 1915 and has been recently renovated. It's a Beaux Arts-style building that replaced the Old City Hall which had been completed in 1897 and was then destroyed just nine years later in the 1906 earthquake and fire. The typeface on all signs at City hall is called City Hall and was hand drawn by the detail-oriented architect of City Hall – Arthur Brown Jr. The dome on San Francisco's City Hall is 16 feet higher than the capitol dome in Washington D. C. Yes that's real gold (leaf)—$400,000 worth in 1999.

Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe were married at San Francisco's City Hall in 1954. Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated there in 1978.

Van Ness Avenue splits San Francisco's Civic Center. Van Ness is the widest street in The City because of the dynamiting of rows of Victorians to act as a fire break after the 1906 earthquake — Mayor Eugene Schmitz ordered the destruction in order to save what was left of San Francisco.

Civic Center with its classic architecture was declared a national landmark in 1978.

Cultural showcases along Van Ness include the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, constructed in 1980 and given a major acoustic renovation in 1992. Davies Symphony Hall Tickets

The War Memorial Opera House — designed by Arthur Brown, Jr., who also designed City Hall, and Coit Tower — was where President Truman signed the United Nations charter on June 26, 1945. The Japanese Peace Treaty was drawn up in 1951 in the Veterans Building, and signed in the Opera House.

The Veteran's Building on Van Ness frequently has a guard posted outside to make sure you don't photograph the building without official approval. That's why you won't see a photo of it here.