the Bay are the inviting hills of Marin County and equally enticing are
the vistas stretching through colonnades and arches formed by the courts
and palaces of the Exposition. The Column of Progress, surmounted by the
"Adventurous Bowman", holds the most noticeable position on the
Esplanade.



North Facade
A View from the Bay

The Esplanade extends westward from the ferry slip, along the north
facade of the main group of buildings, past the massive walls of the
California building and through the States' section to the Massachusetts
building.

From the Bay, the dominating center of the Esplanade is the splendid
Column of Progress, on either side of which lies the Spanish wall of the
north facade broken only by the four magnificent and identical
sixteenth-century Renaissance portals which open into the Palaces of
Mines, of Transportation, of Agriculture and of Food Products. From the
base of the Column of Progress, the vista stretches away, through the
Forecourt of the Stars and the Court of the Universe, to the Tower of
Jewels, which dominates the southern approach to the grounds. Against
the sky-line are outlined the lesser spires of the Italian towers, the
heavy bulk of the sculptured groups crowning the arches of the Rising
and the Setting Sun, the square summit of the Tower of the Ages and the
round domes of the palaces.