The City of Paris Dry Goods Company (later City of Paris) was one of San Francisco's most important department stores from 1850 to 1976, located diagonally opposite Union Square. The store was demolished in 1980 after a lengthy preservation fight to build a new Neiman Marcus, although the store's original rotunda and glass dome were preserved and incorporated into the new design.
The store's history is rooted in the 1849 California Gold Rush. The...
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The City of Paris Dry Goods Company (later City of Paris) was one of San Francisco's most important department stores from 1850 to 1976, located diagonally opposite Union Square. The store was demolished in 1980 after a lengthy preservation fight to build a new Neiman Marcus, although the store's original rotunda and glass dome were preserved and incorporated into the new design.
The store's history is rooted in the 1849 California Gold Rush. The company was founded by Felix Verdier in May 1850 when he arrived in the San Francisco Harbor on a chartered ship, the Ville de Paris (City of Paris), loaded with silks, laces, fine wines, champagne, and Cognac. Verdier had previously owned a silk-stocking manufacturer in Nimes, France. The citizens of San Francisco quickly surrounded the ship with rowboats and purchased all the goods without them ever being unloaded from the ship. Many purchases were made with bags of gold dust. Verdier quickly returned to France and loaded the ship bound for...
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