601–625 Polk Street

1. February 5, 1910

   The Deutsche Haus Gesellschaft (German House Association) bought the 137:6-foot-square corner lot for $55,000 to put up a nine-storey building as its hall.

   The San Francisco Call, 5 February 1910, p. 15
2. March 26, 1910

   The German House Association secured plans by A. Reinhold Denke for its building, estimated at $250,000, with 35 German-American societies taking shares.

   The San Francisco Call, 26 March 1910, p. 17
3. July 22, 1911

   A contract was recorded with Clinton Fireproofing company for excavating, bulkheading, concrete foundations, sewage sump, sidewalk lights, doors and granite curbing on a four-storey and basement class A building for the German House association, at $17,975. Further contracts for the building followed through November 1911.

   The San Francisco Call, 22 July 1911, p. 17
4. 1912–1984

   Social center of the German community

   The German House was the social center of San Francisco's German community, housing dozens of clubs and societies.

   Stefanie E. Williams, “The Rise and Decline of the German-Speaking Community in San Francisco, 1850–1924,” The Argonaut: Journal of the San Francisco Historical Society, vol. 31, no. 1 (Summer 2020), pp. 6–51
5. January 23, 1912

   Val Franz and others contracted to put up a four-storey and basement class A building, at $134,474.

   The San Francisco Call, 23 January 1912, p. 15
6. March 9, 1912

   The cornerstone of the German House was to be laid on 24 March 1912. Frederick H. Meyer's design had won a competition among the city's architects; the $500,000 building was planned with a 3,000-seat auditorium, a banquet and drill hall, a rathskeller, bowling alleys, and rooms for the city's German societies and lodges.

   The San Francisco Call, 9 March 1912, p. 18
7. December 1912

   German House completed

   The German House was completed, following a cornerstone-laying ceremony at Polk and Turk Streets attended by German Consul General Bopp, Mayor James Rolph and Governor Hiram Johnson.

   Stefanie E. Williams, “The Rise and Decline of the German-Speaking Community in San Francisco, 1850–1924,” The Argonaut: Journal of the San Francisco Historical Society, vol. 31, no. 1 (Summer 2020), pp. 6–51
8. December 1912

   The hall — German Renaissance, recalling Heidelberg Castle, paid for by the city's German societies, its cornerstone laid that March by John Hermann of the Hermann Safe Company — opened with an elaborate celebration and a message of good wishes from Kaiser Wilhelm.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
9. 1941–1945

   The hall was used as an embarkation point for troops during the Second World War.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
10. April 1956

    The Daughters of Bilitis held its first public event here: a forum, co-sponsored by the Mattachine Society, on the problems faced by gay men and lesbians.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
11. 1960s

    The Club Puertorriqueño de San Francisco held events in California Hall through the 1960s and 1970s.

    Citywide Historic Context Statement: Clubs and Social Halls (1848–1989), 2026
12. 1965

    California Hall, a designated San Francisco landmark (No. 174); the Daughters of Bilitis held their first public event here in April 1956, and on 1 January 1965 the New Year's Mardi Gras Ball held here for the Council on Religion and the Homosexual was met by police with floodlights and cameras, an episode that turned clergy and lawyers into public allies of the city's homophile organisations.

    Donna J. Graves and Shayne E. Watson, Citywide Historic Context Statement for LGBTQ History in San Francisco, San Francisco Planning Department, adopted by the Historic Preservation Commission November 18, 2015
13. 1970

    The Metropolitan Community Church, the second-oldest LGBTQ congregation in the United States, held its services at California Hall here in 1970 and 1971.

    Damon Scott for the Friends of 1800, Sexing the City: The Development of Sexual Identity Based Subcultures in San Francisco, 1933–1979, historic context statement, San Francisco Planning Department, adopted 2004
14. 1984

    Sold and converted to a culinary academy

    The building was sold and converted to a culinary academy.

    Stefanie E. Williams, “The Rise and Decline of the German-Speaking Community in San Francisco, 1850–1924,” The Argonaut: Journal of the San Francisco Historical Society, vol. 31, no. 1 (Summer 2020), pp. 6–51
15. 1984

    Designated San Francisco Landmark No. 174, California Hall.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
16. Nov 1984

    Permit 8412288 $$$ $300,000

    New restrooms, and doors for partitions.

17. Jun 2001

    Issued Permit 200106141555 $$$ $600,000

    Lecture rooms on the third and fourth floors remodelled into teaching kitchens and demonstration lecture rooms, one on each floor.

18. Aug 2001

    Permit 200108156120 $$$ $300,000

    A lecture room remodelled into a teaching kitchen and demonstration lecture room, and the basement corridor remodelled.

19. Jan 2003

    Issued Permit 200301175429 $$$ $175,000

    Fire sprinklers installed for the fourth-floor teaching kitchens, with the electrical, plumbing, mechanical and hood work under separate permits.

20. Oct 2014

    Issued Permit 201410027933 $$$ $88,000

    Reroofing — the existing built-up roof removed, the concrete inspected, and a twenty-year single-ply roof laid.

21. Aug 2018

    Permit 201808248236 $$$ $20,000

    A caltrans 1-a pole foundation installed over the existing sub-sidewalk basement.

22. Feb 2020

    Filed Permit 202002124243 $$$ $79,500

    Permit to legalize the existing post-secondary educational institution use at 601–625 polk under planning case 2008.0586, with no change of use proposed, plus security camera repairs.

Nine of the 147 filings on this parcel are shown — the largest by stated cost, plus the earliest on file. The rest are sprinkler, fire-alarm and hood permits from the culinary-academy fit-out, renewals of expired permits for final inspection, and sign and street-space permits. 2 expired or cancelled permits are not shown. Institutional addresses are usually deferred on this site; this page exists because the address was named in the prompting source. The parcel spans 601, 605 and 625 Polk Street, and DBI files permits under 601, 605 and 625. Plans by A. Reinhold Denke were secured in March 1910; the building finished in 1912 is credited to Frederick H. Meyer.