My Neighborhoods photo collaboration project, week 6: Chinatown.
Portsmouth Square is located on the site of the first public square established in the early 1800s in the Mexican community of Yerba Buena, whose name was changed to San Francisco in 1847. During the Mexican-American War, when the Americans were bent on acquiring Alta California, Captain John Berrien Montgomery of the USS Portsmouth was ordered to seize Yerba Buena. On July 9, 1846, the first American flag was raised near the Mexican adobe custom house in the plaza that would eventually be named Portsmouth Square in honor of the ship.
Today, the square is considered a part of Chinatown, earning it a nickname "Heart of Chinatown." The park features many markers and statues. A marker for the first public school in California, a marker for the Eastern Terminus of the Clay Street Hill Railroad Company, a marker for the raising of the American flag, and a monument to Robert Louis Stevenson are located inside the park to commemorate its history. Also, a statue of the Goddess of Democracy, a gift from the San Francisco Goddess of Democracy Statue Project to the city, sits in the park.
It is a popular gathering place for groups of people playing and watching various games such as Xiangqi, or chinese chess.