Kearny Street

Kearny Street in San Francisco, California runs north from Market Street to The Embarcadero, with a gap on Telegraph Hill. Toward its south end, it separates the Financial District from the Union Square and Chinatown districts. Further north, it passes over Telegraph Hill. Kearny Street was originally named "La Calle de la Fundacion" by the Spanish. Translated, this means "street of the foundation." The origin of the present name, Kearny Street, is generally assumed to be Stephen Watts Kearny, the first military governor of California under U.S. rule. Another possible namesake includes General Philip Kearny. At Kearny and Clay, the first cable car in America, invented by Andrew S. Hallidie on August 2, 1873, climbed five blocks up the...