2155–2159 Golden Gate Avenue

1. 1852

   AME Zion Church founded

   The Reverend John Jamison Moore founded the church, then the AME Zion Church, on Stockton Street between Broadway and Vallejo. The building no longer stands.

   San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Resolution initiating landmark designation of the First AME Zion Church, File No. 260259, adopted 24 March 2026
2. 1863–1864

   The congregation moved into a classic structure on Stockton Street between Clay and Sacramento, bought from a Unitarian congregation.

   Philip M. Montesano, “San Francisco Black Churches in the Early 1860s: Political Pressure Group,” The Argonaut: Journal of the San Francisco Historical Society, vol. 31, no. 2 (Winter 2021), pp. 54–61
3. late 1950s

   The congregation's previous home at 1669 Geary Street in the Western Addition was demolished for redevelopment.

   San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Resolution initiating landmark designation of the First AME Zion Church, File No. 260259, adopted 24 March 2026
4. 1960

   First A.M.E. Zion Church built its Modernist church here, with a flat inset facade, tower and bare cross.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
5. 1960

   New church built

   The congregation moved into a new building on this site, designed by architect Robert Batchelor.

   San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Resolution initiating landmark designation of the First AME Zion Church, File No. 260259, adopted 24 March 2026
6. Oct 2016

   Permit 201610200778 $$$ $300

   A non-electric single-faced sign erected.

7. March 24, 2026

   Landmark designation initiated

   The Board of Supervisors initiated Article 10 landmark designation of the First AME Zion Church at 2155–2159 Golden Gate Avenue, citing the congregation's history and the building as an example of mid-century modern architecture, and asked the Planning Department to prepare a designation report. File No. 260259.

   San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Resolution initiating landmark designation of the First AME Zion Church, File No. 260259, adopted 24 March 2026

DBI files one permit under 2155 Golden Gate Avenue and the other under 2159. 1 expired permit is not shown. The church stands on two parcels, 1160029 and 1160030, which the Board of Supervisors named together in its 2026 landmark initiation. Both carry the same 2155–2159 address range and the same recorded lot area (3,436 sq ft) and land value ($36,705); only 1160030 carries a building area (9,800 sq ft) and an improvement value. The figures on this page are the two rows as the roll states them, not a reconciliation of them. The assessor files the parcels under North Panhandle; the city's analysis-neighborhood layer places them in Lone Mountain/USF, which this site follows. Land value is the figure recorded identically on each of the two parcels; the improvement value is the one recorded on 1160030. Lot 1160029 carries no improvement value at all. Whether the Historic Preservation Commission has recommended landmark designation since the Board initiated it in March 2026. How the two parcels divide the building, and why the roll records the same lot area and land value on each.