City preview · San Francisco Bay Area
Across the Bay Area, fog, steep streets, and Gold Rush history remain visible: a bridge nearly wore warning stripes, ships lie beneath downtown, cable cars depend on a remote powerhouse, and a stone jetty plays with the tide.
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01 · Presidio
The bridge's International Orange nearly lost out to the Navy's black-and-yellow stripes.
Before the bridge opened in 1937, the U.S. Navy argued for black-and-yellow stripes so ships could see it clearly.
Source: Wikipedia
02 · Financial District
Gold Rush ships still lie below the streets of today's Financial District.
When the Gold Rush began in 1849, sailors abandoned hundreds of ships in the bay to search for gold. The Niantic was hauled onto the beach and reused as a warehouse and hotel.
Source: Wikipedia
03 · Nob Hill
The cable cars moving through the streets have no power of their own; steel cables turning inside this building pull them.
San Francisco's cable cars carry no onboard engines. Since 1873, they have moved by gripping a continuously running steel cable below a slot in the street, then stopping when the grip is released.
Source: Wikipedia
04 · Marina
This stone jetty makes low notes as the tide moves through its pipes.
In 1986, the Exploratorium installed the Wave Organ on a Marina breakwater. More than 20 pipes meet the water at different heights; as the tide rises and falls, compressed air produces gurgles and low, sighing notes, clearest around high tide.
Source: WikipediaAll images on this page are City Whisper editorial illustrations, not historical photographs, news photographs, or evidence.
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