Ferry Building

Location: east end of Market Street at East Street (now Embarcadero).

The current Union Ferry Depot, commonly known as the Ferry Building, was completed in 1898, replacing earlier ferry buildings near the same site (first images below). Architect A. Page Brown modeled its tower on a tower in Seville. The building survived the 1906 earthquake and was not burned in the fire, so it remained in use as ferry terminal immediately after the event. The tower sustained earthquake damage (but postcard caption "Tower Destroyed by Earthquake" below is incorrect) and its clock stopped; damage and repairs are shown in images below.

Before the bridges were built in the 1930s, most visitors came to San Francisco through the Ferry Building, which was often decorated by the city to celebrate major events. The city added night illumination and a large decorative shield for the arrival of the Great White Fleet in 1909, similar illumination for the Portola Festival in 1910, a large "California Invites the World / Panama-Pacific Exposition" sign on the bay side and electic lights with an illuminated "1915" at the top in 1915 (see Keystone film), and a similar illuminated "1925" for the 1925 Diamond Jubilee. S.F. celebrated the P.P.I.E. centennial in 2015 with a replica of the illuminated "1915" on the tower, confusing many visitors.

The logistics of passing trolleys, people, cars, and trains through the plaza in front of the building changed many times over the decades. In the 1920s and 1930s, Market St. streetcars looped directly in front of the building. From the early 1920s through the mid-1940s, a pedestrian bridge crossed Embarcadero over the congested plaza, connecting directly into the second story of the building (photos and last postcard below). An underpass carried vehicle traffic past the plaza in front of the building from 1930 until 1957.

The Embarcadero Freeway was built along the Embarcadero in 1958 (last photo and last postcard below), obscuring the view of the Ferry Building from Market St. The freeway was removed in 1991 after it was severely damaged by the 1989 earthquake. The Ferry Building received a major restoration in 2003.

Images:

g0201.png ferry14.png ferry16.png ferry01.png ferry05.png ferry06.png ferry03.png ferry09.png ferry04.png ferry17.png ferry08.png ferry12.png ferry02.png ferry07.png ferry18.png ferry15.png ferry13.png

Postcards:

galloway_27.png weidner_023.png mitchell_032.png britton_458.png weidner_086a.png souvenir_4632.png souvenir_4632a.png cardinell_593.png cardinell_5615.png unknown_33.png tammen_5288.png pacific_055.png van_noy_u01.png newman_V175.png newman_V119.png mitchell_479.png weidner_616.png souvenir_2181.png pacific2_38.png ferry11.png bardell_u05.png clements_C9124.png

Stereoviews:

ferry10.png siegel_46.png unknown_ferry.png

See also:

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