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49-Mile Scenic Drive

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49-Mile Scenic Drive sign

The 49-Mile Scenic Drive (also known as 49-Mile Drive) in and around San Francisco highlights many of the city's major attractions and historic structures.

Opened on September 14, 1938 as a promotion for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, it features views of the then-newly-built Golden Gate Bridge (opened May 1937) and the Bay Bridge (opened November 1936). Then it terminated at the fairgrounds on Treasure Island.

Points of interest

The Drive is marked by blue and white signs that lead one through the city. Currently the route begins at the intersection of Hayes Street and Van Ness Avenue, near City Hall:

Sign History

The iconic blue and white seagull "49-Mile Scenic Drive" sign was designed by a local artist named Rex May. May's design won the 1955 competition held by San Francisco's Downtown Association to create a new sign for the route. Prior to 1955 the city used blue and gold triangular signs. [1] Some sources erroneously cite the origin date of the newer sign as 1938, which is actually the origin of the 49-Mile-Scenic Drive itself, but not the sign.[2]

Route maintenance

Unfortunately, some of the 49-Mile Scenic Drive signs have gone missing over the years, presumably due to theft. Because of this sometimes the route is hard to follow because of missing signs at major intersections. The San Francisco Department of Parking and Traffic attempts to replace a sign as soon as they are informed it is missing. [3]

If a collector would want to obtain a 49-Mile Scenic Drive sign legally, souvenir repicas of the sign are available for purchase at the San Francisco City Hall Gift Shop[4], near the beginning/end of the route.

In popular culture

In the movie Quick Change, Randy Quaid is driving Geena Davis and Bill Murray through one of the boroughs of New York City. They get completely lost and begin looking for any type of sign that may help them find out where they are. Quaid's character eventually does discover one, a "49-Mile Scenic Drive" sign, which doesn't help him or his passengers find out where they are at all.


External links

Notes

  1. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=PumCVz_MW2gC&pg=PR8&lpg=PR8&dq=Rex+May+49+mile&source=bl&ots=OaHoS7xn6O&sig=yvPTZQQJGyVd5u53NAIMnU3EVeE&hl=en&ei=h-SvS7SmGY2gsgPT_JmEDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result#v=onepage&q=Rex%20May%2049%20mile&f=false
  2. ^ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/chronicle/archive/2003/08/15/WBW2.DTL&o=0
  3. ^ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/08/15/WBW2.DTL
  4. ^ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/08/15/WBW2.DTL
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