Historic Walking Tour Guide: Civic Center Landmark District

One-sheet walking tour for the Civic Center in San Francisco. Features eight stops: War Memorial Complex, High School of Commerce, Orpheum Theater Building, Old Federal Building, Old San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco City Hall, Public Health Building, Exposition Auditorium. From introduction: "The Civic Center Landmark District has national significance as the closest manifestation of the “City Beautiful” movement in the Western United States. Designed in the Beaux-Arts style, the district is rooted in the Classically-inspired architecture popularized in the United States by the 1893 World’s Fair: Columbian Exposition held in Chicago. The idea for a central district anchored by City Hall first arose in 1899, but was not publicly accepted. In 1905, architect Daniel Burnham submitted an ambitious city plan which was initially well-received however, it was never realized. When Mayor James Rolph, Jr. was elected in 1912, he promised to build a new city hall and finalize the plans for a civic center. He chose a group of local architects, led by Bay Area architect John Galen Howard, to design and oversee construction. Designed to grandly house San Francisco’s cultural and government functions on a monumental scale, the Civic Center Landmark district is one of the most complete examples of the City Beautiful movement in the United States. The district contains a strong sense of visual unity achieved through the materials, proportions, and rhythm of the buildings. The grand buildings surround a central open plaza and are unified by the Beaux Arts style, rusticated based as the ground floor, and horizontal bands of vertically proportioned elements. Civic Center expanded between 1915 and 1933 to include 15 city blocks, eight major buildings, many secondary buildings, three unrealized sites, and one open plaza. The Civic Center Landmark District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1987, and designated as a local landmark in 1994." Funding for this project was provided in part through a 2010 Preserve America grant to the City of San Francisco (grant number 06-10-AP-5034) for the Market and Octavia Historic Resource Preservation Project. The grant was administered by the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Preserve America is a federal initiative that encourages and supports community efforts to preserve and enjoy our priceless cultural and natural heritage. The goals of the program include a greater shared knowledge about the nation's past, strengthened regional identities and local pride, increased local participation in preserving the country's cultural and natural heritage assets, and support for the economic vitality of our communities.

Historic Walking Tour Guide: Civic Center Landmark District

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