The Victory Monument – Union Square, San Francisco, California

Union Square is a 2.6-acre (1.1 ha) public plaza bordered by Geary, Powell, Post and Stockton Streets in downtown 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 support for the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Originally a tall sand dune, the square was set aside as a public park in 1850 by San Francisco’s first American mayor, John Geary. Since then the plaza has undergone many notable changes, one of the most significant happening in 1903 with the dedication of a 97 ft (30 m) tall monument to Admiral George Dewey’s victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War. It also commemorates U.S. President William McKinley, who had been recently assassinated. Executed by Robert Aitken, the statue at the top of the monument, "Victory," was modeled after a voluptuous, six-foot (1.8 m) tall Danish-American stenographer and artist’s model, Alma de Bretteville, who eventually married sugar magnate Adolph B. Spreckels, one of San Francisco’s richest citizens.

Another significant change happened between 1939 and 1941 when a large underground parking garage was built under the square; this meant the plaza’s lawns, shrubs and the Dewey monument were now on the garage "roof." It was the world’s first underground parking garage and was designed by Timothy Pflueger.

Today, this one-block plaza and surrounding area is one of the largest collections of department stores, upscale boutiques, gift shops, art galleries, and beauty salons in the United States, making Union Square a major tourist destination, a vital, cosmopolitan gathering place in downtown San Francisco, and one of the world’s premier shopping districts. Grand hotels and small inns, as well as repertory, off-Broadway, and single-act theaters also contribute to the area’s dynamic, 24-hour character. (In the background of this photo you can see the Sir Francis Drake Hotel and the Tiffany Building, an 11 story, 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m2) the bottom two floors of which contain a Tiffany & Co. store, while the upper floors contain offices.)