San Francisco's New (Old) City Hall

The Beaux Arts Building's Architectural Wonders are Restored

• Hours: Open to the public Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
• Cost: No admission fee
• Location: Just off Van Ness, in the Civic Center complex
• How Long: About an hour
• Best Time to Visit: Any time it's open

During the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, City Hall crumbled into rubble. Considering that its bricks were held together with a thin layer of corruption instead of mortar, it wasn't surprising. On April 15, 1913 Mayor "Sunny Jim" Rolph broke ground on San Francisco's sixth City Hall. It took three years and $3.5 million to build. In 1989, a major earthquake struck again. This time, the City Hall remained standing, but it was deemed seismically unsafe. The city completed a $293 million upgrade and seismic retrofit in 1998.

The resurrected city hall was officially re-opened on January 5, 1999. While it restored the building to its original beauty, the project wasn't just a cosmetic restoration. To isolate it from the shock of the next "big one," engineers installed 530 Lead-Rubber Isolators that act like huge shock absorbers, making City Hall the world's largest base-isolated building.

Visiting City Hall

San Francisco is one of the biggest small cities in the world. With a total area of forty nine square miles and less than a million inhabitants, its city hall dome is almost a foot taller than the United States Capitol Building and it is considered one of the finest examples of classical architecture in the country. Every feature of the building, from the rotunda with its imposing staircase to the Mongolian mahogany of the supervisor's chambers has been restored to the original design. It's worth a trip to see all this splendor.

To get an in-depth look at San Francisco City Hall, you can take a complimentary Docent Tour on weekdays. San Francisco City Guides also offer free walking tours that include City Hall and the Civic Center area. No reservations are required.

City Hall History and Trivia

Many news-worthy events occurred in City Hall. In the summer of 1923, President Warren G. Harding was visiting Alaska when he received a distressing message that caused him to plan a hasty return to Washington. When he reached San Francisco, he became ill and died on August 2, 1923. The official cause of death is unknown because his wife refused to allow an autopsy. Some say it was a heart attack, or a stroke, or pneumonia. One of the most colorful theories is that his wife was fed up with his extramarital affairs and poisoned him. Whatever the cause of his death, Harding's body lay in state in City Hall.

Many people have been married here, but one of the most famous marriages was Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe.

In 1978, one of the most infamous events of City Hall's history occurred when former city supervisor Dan White assassinated mayor Moscone and city supervisor Harvey Milk. There was a long political history that led up the assassination. Harvey Milk was the first openly gay elected official in San Francisco and much has been written about the importance of his election and his death.

If you haven't had your fill of trivia by now, the San Francisco Chronicle can give you more.

Getting to City Hall

San Francisco City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA
website

City Hall is located on Van Ness Avenue a few blocks from its intersection with Market Street.

Using public transportation, take MUNI bus line 19 or take BART to the Civic Center Station.

This article was written in conjunction with Martha Bakerjian