San Francisco City Hall in Summer 2003.

The City Hall of San Francisco California, opened in 1915, in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, is a Beaux-Arts monument to the brief "City Beautiful" movement that epitomized the high-minded American Renaissance of the period 1880-1917. The present building is actually a replacement for an earlier City Hall that was completely destroyed during the 1906 Earthquake. Download high resolution version (1280x960, 320 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1280x960, 320 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... San Francisco City Hall on Civic Center plaza in 2004 San Franciscos Civic Center is an area of a few blocks north of the intersection of Market Street and van Ness Avenuethat contains many of the citys largest government and cultural institutions. ... Beaux-Arts architecture[1] denotes the academic classical architectural style that was taught at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. ... The City Beautiful movement was a Progressive reform movement in North American architecture and urban planning that flourished in the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of using beautification and monumental grandeur in cities to counteract the perceived moral decay of poverty-stricken urban environments. ... For the white nationalist magazine, see American Renaissance (magazine). ... Arnold Genthes famous photograph of San Francisco following the earthquake, looking toward the fire on Sacramento Street The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco and the coast of northern California at 5:12 A.M. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. ...

The architect was Arthur Brown Jr., whose attention to the finishing details extended to the doorknobs and the typeface to be used in signage. Brown also designed San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House, Veterans Building, Temple Emanuel, Coit Tower and the Federal office building at 50 United Nations Plaza. Arthur Brown, Jr. ... Signage is any kind of graphics created to display information to a particular audience, typically wayfinding information on streets, outside and inside of buildings. ... War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco The War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, California is located on the western side of Van Ness Avenue across from the back face of City Hall. ... Coit Tower seen from Outside Coit Tower is a notable landmark built at the bequest of Lillie Hitchcock Coit to beautify the City of San Francisco. ...

The original San Francisco City Hall in ruins following the 1906 Earthquake.

Download high resolution version (1400x1000, 420 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: 1906 San Francisco earthquake Categories: U.S. history images ... Download high resolution version (1400x1000, 420 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: 1906 San Francisco earthquake Categories: U.S. history images ... Arnold Genthes famous photograph of San Francisco following the earthquake, looking toward the fire on Sacramento Street The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco and the coast of northern California at 5:12 A.M. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. ...

Architecture

Les Invalides, Paris, 1679

The building is vast, totalling over 500,000 square feet (46,000 m²) and occupying two full blocks of San Francisco. It is 390 feet long on Van Ness Avenue and Polk Street, by 273 feet, 3 inches on Grove and McAllister Streets. Its dome, which owes much to Mansart's Baroque dome of Les Invalides, Paris, is the fifth largest dome in the world, rising 307.5 feet (94 m) above the Civic Center national historic district. It is fourteen inches (35 cm) higher than the United States Capitol, and has a diameter of 66 feet, resting upon 4 x 50 ton and 4 x 20 ton girders, each 9 feet deep and 60 feet long. Photo taken by Daniel Levine on 15 July 2003. ... Photo taken by Daniel Levine on 15 July 2003. ... The church at the Invalides Court of the museum of the Army Les Invalides in Paris, France consists of a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement containing museums and monuments, all relating to Frances military history, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans... Jules Hardouin-Mansart, marble bust by Jean-Louis Lemoyne: a full-dress Baroque portrait bust demonstrates that the Kings architect is no mere craftsman Jules Hardouin-Mansart (Paris, April 16, 1646 – Marly, France, May 11, 1708) was a French architect whose work is generally considered to be the... The church at the Invalides Court of the museum of the Army Les Invalides in Paris, France consists of a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement containing museums and monuments, all relating to Frances military history, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans... The National Register of Historic Places is the USAs official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects worthy of preservation. ... The United States Capitol The United States Capitol is the capitol building that serves as the location for the United States Congress, the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government. ...

The building as a whole contains some 7,900 tons of structural steel from the American Bridge Company near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is faced with Madera County granite on the exterior, and Indiana sandstone within, together with finish marbles from Alabama, Colorado, Vermont, and Italy. Much of the statuary is by Henri Crenier. Henri Crenier (1873-1948) was an American sculptor born in France. ...

The Rotunda is a spectacular space and the upper levels are public and handicapped accessible. Opposite the grand staircase, on the second floor, is the office of the Mayor. Bronze busts of former Mayor George Moscone and his successor, Dianne Feinstein, stand nearby as tacit reminders of the Moscone assassination, which took place just a few yards from that spot in the smaller rotunda of the mayor's office entrance. While hard to discern these days, the inscription that dominates the grand Rotunda and the entrance to the mayor's small rotunda, right below Father Time, reads: Mayor Moscone George Richard Moscone (November 24, 1929 – November 27, 1978) was the mayor of San Francisco, California from January 1976 until his assassination in November 1978. ... Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born June 22, 1933) is a Democratic U.S. Senator from California, an office she has held since 1992. ... Mayor Moscone George Richard Moscone (November 24, 1929 – November 27, 1978) was the mayor of San Francisco, California from January 1976 until his assassination in November 1978. ...

SAN • FRANCISCO
O • GLORIOVS • CITY • OF • OVR
HEARTS • THAT • HAST • BEEN
TRIED • AND • NOT • FOUND
WANTING • GO • THOV • WITH
LIKE • SPIRIT • TO • MAKE
THE • FVTVRE • THINE

1912 JAMES ROLPH JR. MAYOR 1931

These words were written by (previous) Mayor Edward Robeson Taylor. [1] and dedicated by Mayor James Rolph. Edward Robeson Taylor (September 24, 1838 - July 5, 1923) was the 28th Mayor of San Francisco serving from July 16, 1907 to January 7, 1910. ... James Rolph Jr. ...

While plaques at the Mall entrance memorialize President George Washington's farewell address and President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, the primary themes of the statuary are to the past mayors, with the dates of their terms in office. The medallions in the vaults of the Rotunda are to Equality, Liberty, Strength, Learning and, as memorialized in the South Light Court display, Progress. For the film, see The American President (film). ... George Washington (February 22, 1732–December 14, 1799)[1] led Americas Continental Army to victory over Britain in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and was later elected the first President of the United States. ... Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865), sometimes called Abe Lincoln and nicknamed Honest Abe, the Rail Splitter, and the Great Emancipator, was an American politician who served as the 16th President of the United States (1861 to 1865), and the first president from the Republican Party. ... Selection from the Nicolay Copy of the Gettysburg Address, handwritten by Lincoln himself. ...

Arthur Brown's blueprints of the building are preserved at the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley. The University of California, Berkeley (also known as UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, and by other names, see below) is the oldest and flagship campus of the ten-campus University of California system. ...

History

President Warren G. Harding lay in state at City Hall after dying of a heart attack at the Palace Hotel in 1923. Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe were married at City Hall in 1954. Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated there in 1978, by former Supervisor Dan White. Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 - August 2, 1923) was an American politician and the 29th President of the United States, from 1921 to 1923, when he became the sixth president to die in office. ... Joseph Paul DiMaggio, born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, Jr. ... Marilyn Monroe (June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962) was an American actress, singer and model. ... Mayor Moscone George Richard Moscone (November 24, 1929 – November 27, 1978) was the mayor of San Francisco, California from January 1976 until his assassination in November 1978. ... Harvey Milk (1930-1978) American politician and gay-rights activist. ... Daniel James White (September 2, 1946 – October 21, 1985) was the former San Francisco Supervisor (in San Francisco, a combination of city councillor and county supervisor) who assassinated Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone on November 27, 1978 at City Hall. ...

The Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 damaged the structure, and twisted the dome four inches (102 mm) on its base. Afterwards work was undertaken to render City Hall earthquake resistant through a base isolation system. In an earthquake, the mass of the dome acts as a pendulum, rocking the building's structure and tearing it apart. The base isolation system of hundreds of rubber and stainless-steel insulators inserted into City Hall's underpinnings has the effect of disrupting seismic waves before they can affect the structure. San Francisco's City Hall is currently the world's largest base-isolated structure—a triumph of seismic retrofitting. The Loma Prieta earthquake occurred on Tuesday October 17, 1989, in the greater San Francisco Bay Area in California at 5:04 p. ... Seismic retrofitting is the modification of existing structures to make them more resistant to seismic activity, ground motion, or soil failure due to earthquakes. ... . . p-wave and s-wave from seismograph A seismic wave is a wave that travels through the Earth, most often as the result of a tectonic earthquake, sometimes from an explosion. ... Seismic retrofitting is the modification of existing structures to make them more resistant to seismic activity, ground motion, or soil failure due to earthquakes. ...

Interior stairs lead to the Board of Supervisor's meeting chamber. Click for additional information

The city has attempted to recruit peregrine falcons to nest in aeries outside the dome. Pigeon droppings have to be periodically cleaned from the pair of glass-covered light wells (formerly covered with concrete at the height of modernism). In a curious coincidence, the new city hall in nearby San Jose has already drawn at least one pair of falcons, discovered by Mayor Ron Gonzales himself as he saw pigeon feathers descend past a window during a meeting.^{[citation needed]} Image File history File links Download high resolution version (575x910, 212 KB)Interior stairway of San Francisco City Hall. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (575x910, 212 KB)Interior stairway of San Francisco City Hall. ... Binomial name Falco peregrinus Tunstall, 1771 The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), sometimes formerly known in North America as Duck Hawk, is a medium-sized falcon about the size of a large crow: 38-53 cm (15 to 21 inches) long. ... Pigeon redirects here. ... Modernism is a trend of thought which affirms the power of human beings to make, improve, deconstruct and reshape their built and designed environment, with the aid of scientific knowledge, technology and practical experimentation, thus in its essence both progressive and optimistic. ... Nickname: Capital of Silicon Valley Location of San Jose within Santa Clara County, California. ... Ron Gonzales Ronald R. Gonzales (born 1951) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party, currently serving as the 63rd Mayor of San Jose, California. ...

The main Rotunda was a site of a 1960 anti-HUAC student demonstration and countering police action. HUAC hearings House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC or HCUA) (1938–1975) was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. ...

The grand plaza, partially seen in the image above, has undergone several extensive rennovations, with radical changes in its appearance and utility. Prior to the 1960s there were extensive brick plazas, few trees, and a few large, simple, raised, and circular ponds with central fountains, all in a style that discouraged loitering. The plaza was then extensively excavated for sorely needed underground parking. At this time a central rectangular pond, with an extensive array of water vents (strangely, all in several strict rows and all pointing east, with identical arcs of water, and completely without sculptural embellishment), was added, with extensive groves of trees (again, in 60s modernist style, planted with absolute military precision on rectangular grids). In the 1990's, with the rise of the problem of homeless persons, the plaza was once again remodeled to make it somewhat less habitable – although the most significant change, the replacement of the pond and pumps with a lawn, could be reasonably justified on the basis of energy and water conservation. The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... This article focuses on the cultural movement labeled modernism or the modern movement. See also: Modernism (Roman Catholicism) or Modernist Christianity; Modernismo for specific art movement(s) in Spain and Catalonia. ... A homeless person in Paris. ... Water resources are sources of water that are useful to human beings for drinking, recreation, irrigation, livestock production, industry, etc. ...

San Francisco City Hall in Film

The City Hall rotunda as featured in the film Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The beauty of City Hall has not been lost on filmmakers working in San Francisco; a good many films have shot scenes in and around the building. Ironically, that which may be City Hall's best-known scene does not take place in San Francisco but in Washington, DC. A scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark was filmed in the rotunda as a late addition to the production when it was decided that a coda was needed for Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood's relationship. Dirty Harry filmed a key scene in the Mayor's office itself. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (882x401, 76 KB) The San Francisco City Hall rotunda as featured in the film Raiders of the Lost Ark. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (882x401, 76 KB) The San Francisco City Hall rotunda as featured in the film Raiders of the Lost Ark. ... Raiders of the Lost Ark, also known as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, is a 1981 adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. ... Raiders of the Lost Ark, also known as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, is a 1981 adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. ... Dirty Harry is a 1971 film directed by Don Siegel, the first of the series. ...

Other films that feature City Hall include:

• Bedazzled (2000)
• The Rock (1996)
• A View to a Kill (1985)
• Dirty Harry (1971)

And many more. Bedazzled is a 2000 motion picture, and is a remake of the original Bedazzled (1967) originally written by Peter Cook. ... The Rock has several meanings: // Dwayne Johnson - American film actor, football star, and retired professional wrestler who goes by the stage name, The Rock. Alcatraz Island, California, former site of a maximum security prison Alum Rock, Birmingham. ... For the Ian Fleming short story that inspired the film, see From a View to a Kill. ... Dirty Harry is a 1971 film directed by Don Siegel, the first of the series. ...

Image gallery

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x1024, 363 KB)South-western side of the dome of San Francisco City Hall as seen from the steps of the War Memorial Opera House, June 31, 2002, following a production of Carmen. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1536x2048, 1020 KB)An eastern door of San Francisco City Hall, seen in the midmorning light of October 31, 2005. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 1389 KB)Detail at sidelight of entrance door to San Francisco City Hall. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 1374 KB)Interior of dome of San Francisco City Hall. ... Image File history File links SFCityHallStairRail. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1536x2048, 656 KB)Decorative keystone and railing on the west side of San Francisco City Hall. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1400x1032, 273 KB)San Francisco City Hall at sunset, photographed in June 2006. ...

External links

• San Francisco government City hall restoration project
  • Virtual Tour/docent document Note: slow link.
• Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress): City Hall, Civic Center, San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA
• CityMayors.com Feature
• 3D model (google sketchup/earth)
• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 37.77919° -122.41914°
  • Satellite image from WikiMapia, Google Maps or Windows Live Local
  • Street map from MapQuest or Google Maps
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image from TerraServer-USA