Union Square has been San Francisco’s central gathering place since 1850, when it was laid out as a public square by then-mayor John Geary. It takes its name from pro-Union rallies held here during the Civil War, and its granite column commemorates Admiral Dewey’s 1898 victory at Manila Bay.
After the 1906 earthquake, the area rebuilt into the city’s premier shopping district, and it remains one today — ringed by Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and luxury boutiques like Tiffany & Co. and Louis Vuitton, with the boutique-lined, largely pedestrian Maiden Lane just off the square.
The plaza itself hosts public art, seasonal events like a winter ice rink, and the annual “Union Square in Bloom” flower festival each spring, making it as much a public space as a shopping hub.
