Union Square
Palm-lined plaza and shopping hub where a Civil War-era rally ground now hosts department stores and a soaring victory monument.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Union Square in San Francisco returns to September 22, 1975, when Sara Jane Moore stood about forty feet from President Gerald Ford as he stepped out of the St. Francis Hotel after a speech. It follows Moore's strange days beforehand, including a police stop that let her go and a different revolver bought that same morning, and the ordinary crowd gathered in the square to watch the president wave. Beside her stood Oliver Sipple, a former Marine, watching the same crowd.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
San Francisco City Hall
Beaux-Arts civic landmark with a gilded dome rising higher than the US Capitol's, rebuilt after the 1906 quake.
Harvey Milk Plaza
Transit plaza and gathering space honoring an assassinated LGBTQ rights pioneer, marked by a rainbow flag.
Pacific Heights
Hilltop enclave of Gilded Age mansions and chateaus with sweeping bay and bridge views.
Washington Square
City-block lawn ringed by cafes, with a Gold Rush-era statue hiding a century-old time capsule.
Legion of Honor
Beaux-arts art museum modeled on a Parisian mansion, built as a World War One memorial above the Golden Gate.