49-Mile Scenic Drive
Encyclopedia
Opened on September 14, 1938 as a promotion for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition
Golden Gate International Exposition
The Golden Gate International Exposition , held at San Francisco, California's Treasure Island, was a World's Fair that celebrated, among other things, the city's two newly-built bridges. The San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge was dedicated in 1936 and the Golden Gate Bridge was dedicated in 1937...
, it
features views of the then-newly-built Golden Gate Bridge
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...
(opened May 1937) and the Bay Bridge (opened November 1936). Then it terminated at the fairgrounds on Treasure Island
Treasure Island, California
Treasure Island is an artificial island in the San Francisco Bay between San Francisco and Oakland, and an emerging neighborhood of San Francisco....
.
Points of interest
The Drive is marked by blue and white signs that lead one through the city. Currently the route begins at the intersection of Hayes Street and Van Ness Avenue, near City HallSan Francisco City Hall
San Francisco City Hall, re-opened in 1915, in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epitomized the high-minded American Renaissance of the 1880s to 1917. The structure's dome is the fifth largest in the world...
:
- Civic CenterCivic Center, San Francisco, CaliforniaThe Civic Center in San Francisco, California, 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 and a number of buildings in classical architectural style...
- Asian Art MuseumAsian Art Museum of San FranciscoThe Asian Art Museum of San Francisco is a museum in San Francisco, California, United States. It has one of the most comprehensive collections of Asian art in the world....
- Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)San Francisco Museum of Modern ArtThe San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a modern art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art and was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th century art...
- JapantownJapantown, San Francisco, Californiacomprises about six square city blocks in San Francisco, California, USA. San Francisco's Japantown is the largest and oldest such enclave in the United States.-Location:...
- Union SquareUnion Square, San Francisco, CaliforniaUnion Square is a plaza of bordered by Geary, Powell, Post and Stockton Streets in San Francisco, California. "Union Square" also refers to the central shopping, hotel, and theater district that surrounds the plaza for several blocks. The area got its name because it was once used for rallies and...
- ChinatownChinatown, San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco's Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in North America and the largest Chinese community outside Asia. Since its establishment in 1848, it has been highly important and influential in the history and culture of ethnic Chinese immigrants to the United States and North America...
- Nob HillNob Hill, San Francisco, CaliforniaNob Hill refers to a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, centered on the intersection of California and Powell streets. It is one of San Francisco's 44 hills, and one of its original "Seven Hills."-Location :...
- Russian HillRussian Hill, San Francisco, CaliforniaRussian Hill is a neighborhood of San Francisco, California, in the United States. It is one of San Francisco's 44 hills, and one of its original "Seven Hills."-Location:...
- Cable Car BarnSan Francisco cable car systemThe San Francisco cable car system is the world's last permanently operational manually operated cable car system, in the US sense of a tramway whose cars are pulled along by cables embedded in the street. It is an icon of San Francisco, California...
- Transamerica PyramidTransamerica PyramidThe Transamerica Pyramid is the tallest skyscraper in the San Francisco skyline and one of its most iconic. Although the building no longer houses the headquarters of the Transamerica Corporation, it is still strongly associated with the company and is depicted in the company's logo...
- North BeachNorth Beach, San Francisco, CaliforniaNorth Beach is a neighborhood in the northeast of San Francisco adjacent to Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf and Russian Hill. The neighborhood is San Francisco's Little Italy, and has historically been home to a large Italian American population. It still holds many Italian restaurants today, though...
- Washington SquareWashington Square, San FranciscoWashington Square is a park in the North Beach district of San Francisco, California. The popular destination, for both locals and tourists, is surrounded by eating establishments and the Sts. Peter and Paul Church...
- Coit TowerCoit TowerCoit Tower is a tower in the Telegraph Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The tower, in the city's Pioneer Park, was built in 1933 at the request of Lillie Hitchcock Coit to beautify the city of San Francisco; Coit bequeathed one-third of her estate to the city "to be expended in an...
- Washington Square
- Pier 39Pier 39Pier 39 is a shopping center and popular tourist attraction built on a pier in San Francisco, California. At Pier 39, there are shops, restaurants, a video arcade, street performances, an interpretive center for the Marine Mammal Center, the Aquarium of the Bay, virtual 3D rides, and views of...
- Fisherman's WharfFisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, CaliforniaFisherman's Wharf is a neighborhood and popular tourist attraction in San Francisco, California. It roughly encompasses the northern waterfront area of San Francisco from Ghirardelli Square or Van Ness Avenue east to Pier 35 or Kearny Street...
- AlcatrazAlcatraz IslandAlcatraz Island is an island located in the San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. Often referred to as "The Rock" or simply "Traz", the small island was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison, and a Federal...
- The Cannery
- Ghirardelli SquareGhirardelli SquareGhirardelli Square is a landmark with shops and restaurants in the Fisherman's Wharf area of San Francisco, California, USA. A portion of the area is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Pioneer Woolen Mills and D. Ghirardelli Company....
- Aquatic ParkSan Francisco Maritime National Historical ParkThe San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is located in San Francisco, California, USA. The park includes a fleet of historic vessels, a visitor center, a maritime museum, and a library/research facility...
- Lombard StreetLombard Street (San Francisco)Lombard Street is an east–west street in San Francisco, California. It is famous for having a steep, one-block section that consists of eight tight hairpin turns.-Route description:...
- Marina GreenMarina GreenThe Marina Green in San Francisco, California, is a expanse of grass between Fort Mason and the Presidio. It is adjacent to San Francisco Bay, and this location provides good views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island, Alcatraz Island, and parts of Marin County. Houses built mostly in the 1920s...
- Crissy FieldCrissy FieldCrissy Field is a former airfield, now a part of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy in San Francisco, California, United States. Historically a part of the Presidio of San Francisco, Crissy Field was closed as an airfield and eventually the National Park Service took control over it...
- Palace of Fine ArtsPalace of Fine ArtsThe Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, is a monumental structure originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in order to exhibit works of art presented there. One of only a few surviving structures from the Exposition, it is the only one still...
- (ExploratoriumExploratoriumThe Exploratorium is a museum in San Francisco with over 475 participatory exhibits, all of them made onsite, that mix science and art. It also aims to promote museums as informal education centers....
) - The PresidioPresidio of San FranciscoThe Presidio of San Francisco is a park on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area...
- Letterman Digital Arts CenterLetterman Digital Arts CenterThe Letterman Digital Arts Center , located in the Presidio, San Francisco, is the combined home of Industrial Light & Magic, LucasArts, and Lucasfilm's marketing, online, and licensing units....
- Battery ChamberlinBattery ChamberlinBattery Chamberlin is an artillery battery in the Presidio of San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States. The battery is named in honor of Captain Lowell A...
- Letterman Digital Arts Center
- Golden Gate BridgeGolden Gate BridgeThe Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...
- Fort Point
- Baker BeachBaker BeachBaker Beach is a public beach on the peninsula of San Francisco, California, U.S.. The beach lies on the shore of the Pacific Ocean to the northwest of the city...
- Legion of HonorCalifornia Palace of the Legion of HonorThe California Palace of the Legion of Honor is a fine art museum in San Francisco, California...
- Richmond DistrictRichmond District, San Francisco, CaliforniaThe Richmond District is a neighborhood in the northwest corner of San Francisco, California.-Location:Lying directly north of Golden Gate Park, "the Richmond" is bounded roughly by Fulton Street to the south, Arguello Boulevard and Laurel Heights to the east, The Presidio National Park and Lincoln...
- Lincoln ParkLincoln Park (San Francisco)Lincoln Park in San Francisco, California, was dedicated to President Abraham Lincoln in 1909 and includes about of the northwestern corner of the San Francisco Peninsula....
- Sutro BathsSutro BathsThe Sutro Baths were a large, privately owned swimming pool complex in San Francisco, California, built in the late 19th century. The building housing the baths burned down in 1966 and was abandoned. The ruins may still be visited.- History :...
(ruins) - Great HighwayGreat HighwayThe Great Highway is a road in San Francisco that forms the city's western edge along the Pacific coast. It runs for approximately next to Ocean Beach...
- Cliff HouseCliff House, San FranciscoThe Cliff House is a restaurant perched on the headlands on the cliffs just north of Ocean Beach on the western side of San Francisco, California...
- Seal Rock
- Ocean BeachOcean Beach, San Francisco, CaliforniaOcean Beach is a beach that runs along the west coast of San Francisco, California, United States, at the Pacific Ocean. It is adjacent to Golden Gate Park, the Richmond District and the Sunset District. The Great Highway runs alongside the beach, and Cliff House and the site of the former Sutro...
- The San Francisco ZooSan Francisco ZooThe San Francisco Zoo, housing more than 260 animal species, is a zoo located in the southwestern corner of San Francisco, California, between Lake Merced and the Pacific Ocean along the Great Highway...
- Lake MercedLake MercedLake Merced is a freshwater lake in the southwest corner of San Francisco. It is surrounded by three golf courses , as well as residential areas, Lowell High School, San Francisco State University, Fort Funston and the Pacific Ocean...
- Cliff House
- San Francisco State UniversitySan Francisco State UniversitySan Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
- Golden Gate ParkGolden Gate ParkGolden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20% larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles long east to west, and about half a...
- Strybing ArboretumSan Francisco Botanical GardenThe San Francisco Botanical Garden is a large botanical garden in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Its 55 acres include over 50,000 individual plants, representing over 8,000 taxa from around the world, with particular focus on Magnolia species, high elevation palms, and cloud forest species...
- Japanese Tea GardenJapanese tea garden at Golden Gate ParkThe Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco, California, is a popular feature of Golden Gate Park, originally built as part of a sprawling World's Fair, the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894...
- de Young MuseumM. H. de Young Memorial MuseumThe M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, commonly called simply the de Young Museum, is a fine arts museum located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. It is named for early San Francisco newspaperman M. H...
- Academy of SciencesCalifornia Academy of SciencesThe California Academy of Sciences is among the largest museums of natural history in the world. The academy began in 1853 as a learned society and still carries out a large amount of original research, with exhibits and education becoming significant endeavors of the museum during the twentieth...
- Conservatory of FlowersConservatory of FlowersThe Conservatory of Flowers is a greenhouse and botanical garden that houses a collection of rare and exotic plants in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California. With construction completed in 1878, it remains the oldest building in the park, and the oldest municipal wooden conservatory remaining...
- AIDS Memorial GroveAIDS Memorial GroveThe National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California, is a dedicated space in the national landscape where millions of Americans touched directly or indirectly by AIDS can gather to heal, hope, and remember...
- Kezar StadiumKezar StadiumKezar Stadium is a stadium located adjacent to Kezar Pavilion in the southeastern corner of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. It is the former home of the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL, and of the San Francisco Dragons of MLL. It also served as the home of the...
- Strybing Arboretum
- Haight-AshburyHaight-Ashbury, San Francisco, CaliforniaHaight-Ashbury is a district of San Francisco, California, named for the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets. It is also called The Haight and The Upper Haight.-Location:...
- Twin Peaks
- Castro DistrictThe Castro, San Francisco, CaliforniaThe Castro District, commonly referenced as The Castro, is a neighborhood in Eureka Valley in San Francisco, California. The Castro is one of America's first and best-known gay neighborhoods, and it is currently its largest...
- Castro TheatreCastro TheatreThe Castro Theatre is a popular San Francisco movie palace which became San Francisco Historic Landmark #100 in September 1976. Located at 429 Castro Street, in the Castro district, it was built in 1922 with a Spanish Colonial Baroque façade that pays homage—in its great arched central window...
- Castro Theatre
- Mission DoloresMission San Francisco de AsísMission San Francisco de Asís, or Mission Dolores, is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco and the sixth religious settlement established as part of the California chain of missions...
- AT&T ParkAT&T ParkAT&T Park is a ballpark located in the South Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Located at 24 Willie Mays Plaza, at the corner of Third and King Streets, it has served as the home of the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball since 2000....
- Bay Bridge
- The Embarcadero
- Ferry BuildingFerry BuildingThe San Francisco Ferry Building is a terminal for ferries that travel across the San Francisco Bay and a shopping center located on The Embarcadero in San Francisco, California. On top of the building is a large clock tower, which can be seen from Market Street, a main thoroughfare of the city...
- Federal Reserve Bank of San FranciscoFederal Reserve Bank of San FranciscoThe Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco is the federal bank for the twelfth district in the United States. The twelfth district is made up of nine western states-—Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington--plus the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa,...
- Ferry Building
- Financial DistrictFinancial District, San Francisco, CaliforniaThe Financial District is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, that serves as its main central business district. The nickname "FiDi" is occasionally employed, analogous to nearby SoMa.-Location:...
- Moscone CenterMoscone CenterMoscone Center is the largest convention and exhibition complex in San Francisco, California. It comprises three main halls: Two underground halls underneath Yerba Buena Gardens, known as Moscone North and Moscone South, and a three-level Moscone West exhibition hall across 4th Street...
Sign History
The blue and white seagull "49-Mile Scenic Drive" sign was designed by a local artist named Rex May. May's design won the 1955 competition held by San Francisco's Downtown Association to create a new sign for the route. Prior to 1955 the city used blue and gold triangular signs. Some sources erroneously cite the origin date of the newer sign as 1938, which is actually the origin of the 49-Mile-Scenic Drive itself, but not the sign.Route maintenance
Some of the 49-Mile Scenic Drive signs have gone missing over the years, presumably due to theft. Because of this, sometimes the route is hard to follow due to missing signs at major intersections. The San Francisco Department of Parking and Traffic attempts to replace a sign as soon as they are informed it is missing.In popular culture
In the movie Quick ChangeQuick Change
Quick Change is a 1990 comedy film starring Bill Murray, who also co-directed with the film's screenwriter Howard Franklin. Geena Davis, Randy Quaid, and Jason Robards co-star. Other cast members include Tony Shalhoub, Stanley Tucci, Phil Hartman, Victor Argo, Kurtwood Smith, Bob Elliott, and...
, Randy Quaid
Randy Quaid
Randall Rudy "Randy" Quaid is an American actor perhaps best known for his role as Cousin Eddie in the National Lampoon's Vacation movies, as well as his numerous supporting roles in films, including his Oscar nominated performance in The Last Detail, Independence Day, Kingpin and Brokeback Mountain...
is driving Geena Davis
Geena Davis
Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis is an American actress, film producer, writer, former fashion model, and a women's Olympics archery team semi-finalist...
and Bill Murray
Bill Murray
William James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...
through one of the boroughs of New York City. They get completely lost and begin looking for any type of sign that may help them find out where they are. Quaid's character eventually does discover one, a "49-Mile Scenic Drive" sign, which doesn't help him or his passengers find out where they are at all.