The plaza in front of the Ferry Building is named for Harry Bridges, the longshoremen’s union leader who led the 1934 West Coast waterfront strike. The strike turned violent on Bloody Thursday, July 5, 1934, when police killed two strikers a few blocks from here, leading to a general strike that shut down the city.
For nearly 30 years this view did not exist. The double-deck Embarcadero Freeway, built in 1959, ran along the waterfront and walled the Ferry Building off from downtown. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged it. Rather than rebuild, the city tore it down in 1991, reconnecting San Francisco to its waterfront. The open promenade, the streetcar line, and the restored Ferry Building all followed.
Part of a self-guided walking tour
