38 places to stand where the 1915 fair stood, in the order you would walk them, west to east along the whole length of the fairground. It begins on the Crissy Field lawn that was the fair's racetrack and ends at Fort Mason, where the Zone did.
It is flat. That is not a throwaway: the fair was built on filled bay, deliberately level, and the whole route is paved and passable with a stroller or a wheelchair except where you choose to cut across grass. The only climb on this page is the optional pair at the end, and they are optional for that reason.
Take a jacket, not a hat. Half the route is open shoreline with no shade and the wind comes off the Gate most afternoons.
Any daylight works. Nothing on the route is ticketed or has opening hours. If you care more about photographs than about the order of the story, walk it backwards, east to west, in the last two hours before sunset, with the light coming off the water toward you.
Getting to the start. The west end is inside the Presidio and the east end is at Fort Mason, which has buses on Bay Street. The easy version is to get yourself to the far end first and walk back toward the city.
The codes. Each stop is numbered in walking order and also carries a code, such as S25: the film's own name for the shot made there. Quote the code if you write in about a stop.
If you only do one leg, do Leg 3. Chestnut Street and the Zone. It is the part most people live on, and the part where the gap between what is there and what was there is widest.
The western third, almost all of it off the street: the airfield lawn that was the fair's racetrack, the shoreline, and the one building of the eleven still standing.
Ends at the Palace of Fine Arts. Buses on Lombard, and somewhere to sit down.
Start here.
Stand here: The middle of the grass airfield at Crissy Field (walk in from the promenade) · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The fair's racetrack, drill ground and polo field. The Army chose the site for an airfield in 1919, and the Park Service says the oval can still be traced at the edge of the grass.
In the gazetteer: Race Track, Aviation Field, Drill Grounds, Polo Field and Stadium
Code S25
300 ft southeast from the last stop · 0.1 miles in
Stand here: West end of the grass airfield at Crissy Field, by the old hangars on Mason St · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The fair's race track and polo field, then the Army's runway from 1921, now the lawn. Everything in the distance, the palace dome, the Marina's roofs, was the Exposition.
See this spot in the film at 2:02:54 →
Code S27
850 ft northeast from the last stop · 0.2 miles in
Stand here: Mason St at Crissy Field, the row of restored Army hangars · Apple Maps · Google Maps
Built for the air station that replaced the fair's race track. The Presidio Trust restored them; the fair's live-stock pavilion stood a few hundred feet east.
Code S28
1,150 ft southeast from the last stop · 0.4 miles in
Stand here: The boardwalk and footbridge over the marsh at the east end of Crissy Field, off Mason St by the Crissy Field Center · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The fair filled this marsh for its live-stock pens and drill ground; the Army kept it filled for the airfield. In 2001 the Presidio Trust and the Parks Conservancy dug the marsh out again, the one piece of the fairground returned to what it was before 1912.
See this spot in the film at 2:05:59 →
Code S26
2,040 ft northeast from the last stop · 0.8 miles in
Stand here: East Beach at Crissy Field, at the water's edge · Apple Maps · Google Maps
In 1915 the Golden Gate was an open strait; the bridge came in 1937. The fair's visitors looked out on empty water and the Marin hills.
In the gazetteer: The Marina, the Esplanade and the North Gardens
Code S23
2,270 ft east from the last stop · 1.3 miles in
Stand here: Yacht Rd at Old Mason St, east end of Crissy Field · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The foreign pavilions stood along here from about Lyon St westward. A centennial pairing puts the Netherlands pavilion near this corner; France (the Legion of Honor's original) and Japan were up the slope to the southwest.
In the gazetteer: Avenue of Nations · Netherlands Pavilion
Code S24
680 ft southeast from the last stop · 1.4 miles in
Stand here: Center of the rotunda floor · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The rotunda is 163½ ft across, and its dome rose 160½ ft. Under it in 1915 stood the loan sculpture, with Grafly's Pioneer Mother before the gallery doors.
In the gazetteer: Palace of Fine Arts
Code S03
120 ft southeast from the last stop · 1.4 miles in
Stand here: Anywhere on the palace: the rotunda drum, column bases, the coffers, the lagoon railings, the planting boxes · Apple Maps · Google Maps
Jules Guérin chose every color on the fair, from the old-ivory travertine of the walls to the French green of the lattices and the pink of the flagpoles. The rebuilt palace still wears his travertine tint, the closest surviving swatch.
In the gazetteer: Palace of Fine Arts
Code S04
50 ft northeast from the last stop · 1.4 miles in
Stand here: Inside the colonnade on the lagoon side, starting at the south end and walking north toward the rotunda · Apple Maps · Google Maps
Maybeck's colonnade, rebuilt in concrete 1964–67 on the original plan. The weeping figures on the boxes atop the columns look inward, as they did in 1915.
In the gazetteer: Palace of Fine Arts
See this spot in the film at 2:01:31 →
Code S02
460 ft east from the last stop · 1.5 miles in
Stand here: East bank of the lagoon, on the path off Baker St between North Point and Bay, the rotunda dead ahead across the water · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The one fair building still standing where it was built. In 1915 you would have been standing in the Palace of Education's forecourt, looking west over the lagoon exactly as fairgoers did.
In the gazetteer: Palace of Fine Arts · Fine Arts Lagoon
See this spot in the film at 2:01:41 →
Code S01
Out of the Presidio and onto the fill itself. This is the stretch where nothing is left and the addresses do the work: the courts, the Tower of Jewels, the water.
Ends at the Tower of Jewels site, a block from Chestnut Street.
0 ft north from the last stop · 1.5 miles in
Stand here: East bank of the lagoon, the same spot as S01, after dark · Apple Maps · Google Maps
Ryan floodlit the palace in 1915 as part of the illumination. The modern floodlighting is the closest thing in the city to the fair's look at night.
In the gazetteer: Palace of Fine Arts · Fine Arts Lagoon
See this spot in the film at 2:02:06 →
Code S05
850 ft south from the last stop · 1.7 miles in
Stand here: Lyon St at Bay St, looking north along the Presidio wall toward the palace · Apple Maps · Google Maps
Lyon St was the seam between the city's land and the Army's. The fair ran straight across it, palace to the east, the nations to the west.
In the gazetteer: Inside Inn
Code S30
840 ft southeast from the last stop · 1.8 miles in
Stand here: Chestnut St at Lyon St, by the Presidio wall, looking north down Lyon · Apple Maps · Google Maps
This is the edge. Everything behind the camera was city in 1915 and stayed city; everything ahead of it was the Exposition, running down to the Bay. The line the film draws from the top of the steps is this one, seven blocks below.
See this spot in the film at 6:49 →
Code S29
840 ft northeast from the last stop · 2.0 miles in
Stand here: Francisco St between Broderick and Baker, near Broderick (about here), looking north · Apple Maps · Google Maps
Bakewell & Brown's Palace of Horticulture, with its 185-ft glass dome, closed the west end of the South Gardens. A centennial photo pairing puts it near this corner.
In the gazetteer: Palace of Horticulture
Code S17
860 ft east from the last stop · 2.1 miles in
Stand here: Chestnut St at Divisadero, southeast corner, looking north up Divisadero · Apple Maps · Google Maps
A block north of here the south wall of the Palace of Education began; the Palace of Horticulture's glass dome rose to the west across the gardens. Divisadero ran straight into the fair's south fence.
See this spot in the film at 2:07:14 →
Code S06
1,210 ft north from the last stop · 2.4 miles in
Stand here: The intersection of Bay and Divisadero, in the roadway if it is safe, otherwise the northeast corner. Look east along Bay. · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The Court of the Universe. The Arch of the Setting Sun stood about 265 feet from this spot and the middle of the oval about 300 feet away, so this is at its southwest edge. The Tower of Jewels was about 330 feet off to the southeast.
In the gazetteer: Court of the Universe · Arch of the Setting Sun
See this spot in the film at 6:15 →
Code S48
730 ft west from the last stop · 2.5 miles in
Stand here: Beach St or North Point St between Divisadero and Scott, any block of the stucco rows; also Marina Blvd's row facing the Green · Apple Maps · Google Maps
These blocks were the Court of the Four Seasons and the Palace of Liberal Arts. The fair came down in 1916; the streets were cut across the fill in the early 1920s and the Mediterranean-revival houses and apartments went up through the 1920s and 30s.
See this spot in the film at 2:03:03 →
Code S11
390 ft northwest from the last stop · 2.6 miles in
Stand here: Broderick St between North Point and Beach (about here) · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The Court of the Four Seasons, Henry Bacon's quiet western court. In the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake this part of the fill liquefied; the Marina's worst damage was on the old fairground.
In the gazetteer: Court of the Four Seasons
Code S16
1,500 ft north from the last stop · 2.9 miles in
Stand here: Marina Blvd at the harbor, by the St. Francis Yacht Club · Apple Maps · Google Maps
Left to the city by the Exposition as a permanent harbor, along with its riprap seawall. The breakwater to the north was the Scintillator's pier.
In the gazetteer: Yacht Harbor
Code S21
690 ft northwest from the last stop · 3.0 miles in
Stand here: Out on the breakwater east of the St. Francis Yacht Club, toward the Wave Organ · Apple Maps · Google Maps
Forty-eight searchlights stood on this mole in 1915 and swept the sky over the fair every night. From here the whole illuminated city faced you across the harbor.
In the gazetteer: The Scintillator and the Exposition Illumination · Yacht Harbor
See this spot in the film at 2:05:30 →
Code S22
1,530 ft east from the last stop · 3.3 miles in
Stand here: Middle of Marina Green, near the flagpole · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The fair's North Gardens and esplanade. Crowds stood here for the auto races, Art Smith's flights and the fireworks. Behind you, where the houses are, rose the north fronts of the palaces.
In the gazetteer: The Marina, the Esplanade and the North Gardens
See this spot in the film at 2:03:27 →
Code S20
590 ft southwest from the last stop · 3.4 miles in
Stand here: Marina Blvd at Cervantes Blvd, stand on the Marina Green side, looking south across Marina Blvd up the Scott St line · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The 185-ft Column of Progress stood in what became this intersection and was not pulled down until the 1920s, the last piece of the main group to go.
In the gazetteer: Column of Progress
See this spot in the film at 2:10:54 →
Code S15
910 ft south from the last stop · 3.6 miles in
Stand here: Scott St between North Point and Beach (about here) · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The center of the fair: the great oval court with the Arches of the Rising and Setting Sun, the Nations of the East and West on top, the Column of Progress framed to the north.
In the gazetteer: Court of the Universe
See this spot in the film at 2:11:41 →
Code S14
680 ft south from the last stop · 3.7 miles in
Stand here: Scott St near Capra Way (about here; other accounts say nearer Chestnut). Shoot from the sidewalk or the crosswalk, looking north down Scott toward the Bay · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The 435-ft Tower of Jewels stood over this intersection, straddling the entrance from the South Gardens into the Court of the Universe. Everything important lay on this line north to the water.
In the gazetteer: Tower of Jewels
See this spot in the film at 3:20 →
Code S12
The fair's front door, then its two-thirds of a mile of amusements, finishing where the Zone did.
Ends at Fort Mason. Buses on Bay Street.
770 ft south from the last stop · 3.8 miles in
Stand here: Chestnut St at Scott, southwest corner, looking northeast across the intersection · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The main gate. Turnstiles, the South Gardens and the Fountain of Energy a block in, the Tower of Jewels straddling the axis beyond. This is the corner every 1915 streetcar map pointed to.
Code S08
120 ft southeast from the last stop · 3.9 miles in
Stand here: Scott St at Chestnut, northeast corner, looking north up Scott · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The Scott Street gate, the fair's main entrance, with the South Gardens and Calder's Fountain of Energy just inside. The Official Guide's streetcar directions ran to 'Scott, to Chestnut'.
In the gazetteer: South Gardens · Fountain of Energy
See this spot in the film at 2:07:36 →
Code S13
610 ft east from the last stop · 4.0 miles in
Stand here: The north sidewalk of Chestnut, Divisadero to Fillmore, six blocks · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The whole south front of the walled city stood one block north of this sidewalk for its entire length: Education, Liberal Arts, the Tower of Jewels over the gate at Scott, Manufactures, Varied Industries, then the Zone beyond Fillmore.
See this spot in the film at 2:06:48 →
Code S07
520 ft northeast from the last stop · 4.1 miles in
Stand here: Steiner St, half a block north of Chestnut (about here), looking west down the line of the gardens · Apple Maps · Google Maps
Festival Hall, the fair's concert hall, stood here at the east end of the South Gardens facing west toward the Fountain of Energy. Its Austin organ went to the Civic Auditorium.
In the gazetteer: Festival Hall
Code S18
810 ft east from the last stop · 4.2 miles in
Stand here: Chestnut St at Fillmore, looking east along Chestnut · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The Fillmore Street gate. East of here the Zone, the fair's 3,360-ft amusement street, ran along the line of Chestnut. Today it is still the neighborhood's busiest street.
In the gazetteer: The Zone
Code S31
140 ft north from the last stop · 4.3 miles in
Stand here: Chestnut St at Fillmore, southeast corner, looking north up Fillmore · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The Fillmore Street entrance, with the Zone opening off it to the right along the line of Chestnut: in John Barry's City of Domes, the architect who guides him complains of "the Zone shrieking at you at one side." The Palace of Varied Industries closed the view to the left.
See this spot in the film at 2:08:05 →
Code S09
750 ft north from the last stop · 4.4 miles in
Stand here: Fillmore St at Bay, by Marina Middle School · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The largest building at the fair, 968 by 368 ft, stood here with its long axis north–south. Part of its footprint is under the school.
In the gazetteer: Palace of Machinery
Code S19
1,330 ft east from the last stop · 4.7 miles in
Stand here: Moscone Rec Center, from the Chestnut St side looking across the fields · Apple Maps · Google Maps
Lobos Square sat inside the Zone; the Exposition had to give it back as a park. It is the one open block of the Zone that is still open.
In the gazetteer: The Zone
Code S32
2,100 ft north from the last stop · 5.1 miles in
Stand here: Marina Safeway, 15 Marina Blvd, from the lot, and from the Marina Green side looking back at the store · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The store stands on the esplanade at the northeast corner of the Palace of Machinery, on made land; the aviation field where Beachey and Art Smith flew lay just beyond it along the water.
See this spot in the film at 2:10:04 →
Code S10
830 ft southeast from the last stop · 5.2 miles in
Stand here: West portal, behind the Marina Safeway at Laguna and Marina Blvd (east portal is at Aquatic Park by Van Ness) · Apple Maps · Google Maps
Dug largely for the fair to bring the Belt Line railroad to the grounds. The Park Service says it still exists.
In the gazetteer: Exposition Ferry Slip and Ferry Building
Code S35
690 ft northeast from the last stop · 5.3 miles in
Stand here: The Fort Mason Center piers, from the pier apron looking out · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The Army transports Logan and Crook were moored off here on March 14, 1915, when Lincoln Beachey's plane came down in the water between them.
In the gazetteer: Exposition Ferry Slip and Ferry Building
See this spot in the film at 59:27 →
Code S37
920 ft east from the last stop · 5.5 miles in
Stand here: The Black Point bluff at upper Fort Mason, above the piers, west edge of the Great Meadow · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The 1915 panoramas of the fair were taken from this hill. Everything from here to the Golden Gate was the Exposition.
In the gazetteer: The Zone · The Marina, the Esplanade and the North Gardens
See this spot in the film at 2:06:38 →
Code S36
2,050 ft south from the last stop · 5.9 miles in
Stand here: Gough St at Francisco · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The Zone bent at Laguna and opened into a circular plaza here at Gough, with Japan Beautiful facing it from the north.
In the gazetteer: The Zone · Japan Beautiful
Code S33
1,280 ft east from the last stop · 6.1 miles in
Stand here: Van Ness Ave at Bay St, looking west · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The Van Ness Avenue gate led straight onto the Zone. The Army lent 18 acres of Fort Mason for the fair's eastern end.
In the gazetteer: The Zone
Code S34
Neither is on the route and both are uphill, which is the point: the fairground was built flat on the bay and these look down on all of it. Add them before the walk, while your legs are fresh.
Stand here: Broadway at Lyon, top of the steps, looking straight down Lyon to the palace and the Bay · Apple Maps · Google Maps
The whole west end of the fair lay below this hill: the palace, the lagoon, the state and foreign buildings on the flats.
In the gazetteer: Palace of Fine Arts
See this spot in the film at 6:27 →
Code S52
Stand here: North edge of Alta Plaza Park at Jackson and Scott, looking north down Scott St · Apple Maps · Google Maps
Scott St was the fair's spine. From up here the Tower of Jewels would have stood dead center on the axis, 435 ft tall.
In the gazetteer: Tower of Jewels
Code S54
This walk crosses a jurisdiction line twice, which is the one genuinely confusing thing about it. The Presidio, Crissy Field and Fort Mason are federal parkland and the United States Park Police answer there. The Marina blocks, Chestnut Street and the Zone are city, and the SFPD answer there. 911 is the only emergency number you need, so in a real emergency stop reading this and dial it.
| Emergency, anywhere on the route | 911Police, fire and ambulance. It works on either side of the line, on any carrier's network and from a phone with no SIM card, but it needs some signal; if you have none, move toward open ground or the street. |
|---|---|
| Legs 1 and the far end of 3 Presidio · Crissy Field · Fort Mason | 415-561-5656United States Park Police, 24-hour dispatch. Non-emergency 415-561-5505. |
| Leg 2 and most of Leg 3 The Marina · Chestnut · Cow Hollow | 911San Francisco police and fire. Non-emergency police 415-553-0123, non-emergency fire 415-558-3200. |
| Something broken, not dangerous | 311City services: a blocked path, a light out, a hazard on a city street. From outside San Francisco, 415-701-2311. |
| Nearest fire station on the route | 218 Lincoln BoulevardSan Francisco Fire Department, on the Presidio Main Post, a few minutes from the Leg 1 stops. |
Half this walk runs along a shoreline and the National Park Service is blunt about it: most beaches in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area are not for swimming. They warn of rip currents, sneaker waves, shorebreak that causes neck injuries, and hypothermia, because the water here is cold enough to disable a strong swimmer quickly. Nothing on this route asks you to go in the water, and you should not. Glass bottles are prohibited on the beaches and within fifteen feet of them, including at Crissy Field north of the promenade.
Numbers read from the National Park Service, the Presidio Trust, the San Francisco Police Department and SF311 on September 19, 2026. If one of them has changed, tell me and it will be corrected the same day.
Distances are measured between the stops and multiplied by 1.3 for the street grid, so they are close rather than exact. The 1915 photographs are from the gazetteer; the present-day photographs are by Wikimedia Commons contributors, each credited under the picture. The code on each stop is the film's own name for the shot made there. A further 12 places the film uses are not on this walk, because they are drone shots, interviews, or elsewhere in the city.