Ferry Building marks the pre-fill shoreline of the Embarcadero

The Ferry Building at the foot of Market Street sits on a pier at what was historically San Francisco's original shoreline before extensive 19th- and early-20th-century landfill expanded the Embarcadero and waterfront. The building and its location illustrate a pronounced artificial change in the city's coastal boundary and are frequently cited in studies of urban shoreline evolution and reclamation. The pattern of landfill behind the Ferry Building created the current Embarcadero roadway and adjacent wharves.