Civic Center, San Francisco, California

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San Francisco Civic Center Historic District
(U.S. National Historic Landmark District)
San Francisco City Hall on Civic Center plaza, 2003
Location:	San Francisco, CA
Built/Founded:	1912
Architect:	Multiple
Architectural style(s):	Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals, Beaux Arts
Added to NRHP:	October 10, 1978
NRHP Reference#:	78000757 ^[1]
Governing body:	Local

United Nations Plaza, across the street from Civic Center.

San Francisco's Civic Center is an area of a few blocks north of the intersection of Market Street and Van Ness Avenue that contains many of the city's largest government and cultural institutions. It has two large plazas (Civic Center Plaza and United Nations Plaza) and a number of buildings in classical architectural style. Its beauty is marred, however, by a reputation for being one of the more popular parts of the city for the homeless and the drug addicted. In recent years the homeless have been pushed out of the central part and now congregate mainly at its Market Street edge.^{[citation needed]} It is the locale of many rallies, demonstrations, and festivals.

United Nations Plaza was created in 1975, when the Bay Area Rapid Transit subway was constructed under Market Street. The 2.6 acre pedestrian mall was designed by Lawrence Halprin.^[2] It commemorates the signing of the United Nations Charter at the Herbst Theater in 1945.

1 Notable buildings
2 Transportation
3 Selected photos
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Notable buildings

City Hall
Supreme Court of California
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
San Francisco Public Library
War Memorial Opera House, where the U.N. Charter was signed in 1945 and the Treaty of San Francisco was signed in 1951.
Davies Symphony Hall
Herbst Theater
Asian Art Museum, opened in 2004 in the former building of the San Francisco Library.
Phillip Burton Federal Building and United States Courthouse for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
California Automobile Association Building
University of California, Hastings College of the Law

[edit] Transportation

Civic Center Station is a subway stop for both BART and the Muni Metro. The F Market historic streetcar line and many Muni bus lines run nearby.

[edit] Selected photos

San Francisco City Hall	Earl Warren (old California State) Building with new state building behind	War Memorial Opera House	War Memorial Veterans Building
Bill Graham Civic (Exposition) Auditorium	Department of Public Health	James Lick (Pioneer) Monument

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2006-03-15).
^ 2.6 acres, 1975, part of BART construction, Halprin as designer: [1]