On Wednesday, officials at Fisherman's Wharf discussed plans for the redevelopment of a parking area behind the Boudin's restaurant. It's intended to breathe new life into an area that was once said to be the third most visited tourist attraction in the entire world, but recently has fallen on hard times.

The first moving images of Fisherman's Wharf are a film from 1897, taken with an Edison camera. In jittery black and white, it shows the old sail-powered Italian fishing boats, called "feluccas," arriving at the harbor. Over the next century, the working wharf became an attraction, with tourists drawn to the large family-owned seafood restaurants.

"It's fashionable to dine at Fisherman's Wharf," said an old newsreel from 1940, "where giant crabs and shellfish are served fresh from

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