You're standing in front of the only Franklin Lloyd Wright building in San Francisco. It was built in 1948 and is a prototype for the Guggenheim museum in New York, featuring the same spiral interior. It's one of the first US shopping streets to have been partially pedestrianized, in 1955.
All around you is what used to be called Morton Street before it was destroyed by the 1906 fire. Despite offering a murder per week the street was known for its brothels. The prostitutes here catered to even the poorest clients, with services starting with just touching a breast through the window.
Prices varied from a quarter to a dollar and higher, for red-haired Jewish women, who were considered especially attractive at the time. Iodoform Kate made a fortune during the 1890's by specializing in hiring these, although it is suspected that not all of her workers were real Jews, or even real redheads.
Some workers had special arrangements, like Rotary Rosie, who offered University of California affection in exchange for half an hour of poetry. Others specialized in such indecent services as music and astrology.
Morton Street was a melting pot, with women of all races and origins, each displaying herself at a bay window of a one-story cottage wearing a comfortable Mother Hubbard gown.
I heard it told, that faced with the horror of the 1906 conflagration the brothel workers retreated in full order, stopping every few blocks to put down their blankets and service a new set of clients before the fire reached them.
Wyatt and Virgil Earp stayed here after the Tombstone shootout, running a faro game out of Geary Hotel.