37.7954, −122.3937 A locator map appears here once a Mapbox token is configured.
Know This Place

District 3 · Block 9900, Lot 274 · ZIP 94111

140 The Embarcadero

Industrial building

  • 3 stories
  • 268,018 ft2
  • 74,415 ft2 lot area
  • Zoned C2
  • Historic resource
  • City landmark
  • Individually listed on the National Register
  • Sold October 9, 2018
37.7954, −122.3937 Street View appears here once a Google Maps embed key is configured.
  1. November 1892

    California voters approved a $600,000 bond, repayable from port revenues, to build a union ferry depot in San Francisco.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
  2. December 26, 1895

    Construction contracts were let for A. Page Brown's design; Brown died soon after, and from February 1896 Edward R. Swain saw the building through as supervising architect, with the port's chief engineer H. C. Holmes. After litigation over the stone, it was faced in Colusa sandstone from the Sites quarry rather than Oregon gray stone.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
  3. 1896

    Built.

  4. July 13, 1898

    Opened to the public. Its 235-foot tower, modeled on the Giralda of Seville Cathedral, carried the largest clock faces in the country, 22 feet across, and the harbor time ball moved here from Telegraph Hill until 1909.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
  5. June 6, 1951

    The Office of the Assessor-Recorder photographed the property for tax assessment. Embarcadero Cafe, Vic's Naval Uniforms, Sea Cliff Cafe, Emerson Drug Company and Harbor Hotel were at the address.

    Assessor-Recorder Photographs (SFP 23), San Francisco Public Library
  6. 1956

    With ferry traffic in decline since the Bay Bridge opened in 1936, the upper-floor waiting rooms were remodeled into offices by William G. Merchant.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
  7. 1958

    Ferry service to the Oakland Mole for rail passengers ended, replaced by buses.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
  8. September 16, 1974

    BART trains began running between the East Bay and San Francisco through the tube under the building's south wing.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
  9. 1977

    Designated San Francisco Landmark No. 90, Ferry Building.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
  10. February 10, 1977

    The City Planning Commission unanimously approved designating the Ferry Building a city landmark, on the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board's recommendation (Resolution 7661).

    San Francisco City Planning Commission minutes, San Francisco Public Library (Internet Archive)

Bites lists Gott's Roadside at 1 Ferry Building, an address the city's registry does not hold; SF Planning names this parcel the Ferry Building.

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