NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. 1. Name of Property Historic name: _Union Iron Works Historic District_______________________________ Other names/site number: Potrero Works, Union Yard, Bethlehem Steel Yard, Potrero Yard, San Francisco Yard _____________________________________ Name of related multiple property listing: _N/A__________________________________________________________ (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.) ____________________________________________________________________________ 2. Location Street & number: East of Illinois Street between 18th and 22nd Streets City or town: San Francisco State: California County: San Francisco _ Not For Publication: Vicinity: ____________________________________________________________________________ 3. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property _X_ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance: _X_national ___statewide _X_local Applicable National Register Criteria: _X_A ___B _X_C ___D Jenan Saunders, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer Date California State Office of Historic Preservation_________________________________ State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register criteria. Signature of commenting official: Date Title : State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government 1 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Union Iron Works Historic District San Francisco, California Name of Property County and State _____________________________________________________________________________ 4. National Park Service Certification I hereby certify that this property is: entered in the National Register determined eligible for the National Register determined not eligible for the National Register removed from the National Register other (explain:) _____________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Signature of the Keeper Date of Action ____________________________________________________________________________ 5. Classification Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply.) Private: X Public – Local X Public – State Public – Federal Category of Property (Check only one box.) Building(s) X District Site Structure Object Sections 1-6 page 2 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Union Iron Works Historic District San Francisco, California Name of Property County and State Number of Resources within Property (Do not include previously listed resources in the count) Contributing Noncontributing _____38________ ______4_______ buildings ______2_______ ______0_______ sites ______4_______ ______6_______ structures ______0_______ ______0_______ objects _____44______ _____10_______ Total Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ____0_____ ____________________________________________________________________________ 6. Function or Use Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions.) _INDUSTRY/manufacturing facility – shipyard/ship repair__________ _DEFENSE/naval facility – shipyard/ship repair __________________ _GOVERNMENT/office – Naval office ___________ _______ _COMMERCE/professional – shipyard office ___________ _______ _INDUSTRY/industrial storage –warehouse ____________ ______ ___________________ Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions.) _INDUSTRY/manufacturing facility – ship repair ___________ _GOVERNMENT/storage – warehouse _________________ _ _COMMERCIAL/storage – warehouse ________________ __ _COMMERCIAL/professional – artist studio ____________ __ _VACANT/NOT IN USE ________________ _ ___________________ Sections 1-6 page 3 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Union Iron Works Historic District San Francisco, California Name of Property County and State _____________________________________________________________________________ 7. Description Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions.) _ OTHER - Industrial ______________ ____ _ MODERN MOVEMENT – Moderne ________________ __ _ LATE 19TH and 20TH CENTURY REVIVALS – Beaux Arts _ LATE 19TH and 20TH CENTURY REVIVALS – Classical _ _ LATE VICTORIAN – Renaissance Revival _______ ____ ___________________ Materials: (enter categories from instructions.) Principal exterior materials of the property: foundations concrete; brick; wood roofs metal – iron/steel; tar and gravel; wood walls metal – iron/steel; brick; concrete; wood walls plastic sheeting other terra cotta Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style, method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has historic integrity.) ______________________________________________________________________________ Summary Paragraph The Union Iron Works (UIW) shipyard, located at Potrero Point in San Francisco, California, comprises 66 acres.1 Bordered by the San Francisco Bay, it lies at the foot of Potrero Hill in San Francisco’s Central Waterfront District (Figures 1 and 2). The area is primarily industrial, with a power plant and the historic American Can Company building nearby, and is rapidly being transformed to a mixed-use district including commercial, light industrial, and residential uses. The Dogpatch Local Historic District — a primarily residential neighborhood interspersed with commercial establishments — lies several blocks to the west. Third Street, one block west of the district, is the main thoroughfare connecting to the rest of the city, with a light rail line extending public transportation to the area. The district itself features 54 contributing and 1 Union Iron Works moved to Potrero Point in 1884, and the shipyard has taken on many names over the years. For consistency in the following pages, the name Union Iron Works (UIW) is used to indicate all incarnations of the shipyard associated with Pier 70 from 1884 to 1945. The Ownership Map (Figure 3) shows the rough boundary of the Union Iron Works Shipyard in 1884 along with the various owners of the southeastern portion of the district prior to the U.S. Navy purchase of the area in 1940 and the construction of the extant Building 12 Complex. Previous owners included Pacific Rolling Mills (1868-1900), Risdon Iron and Locomotive Works (1900-1912), and U.S. Steel Products Company (1912-1940) who owned the land when the U.S. Destroyer yard was built and operated by the Union Iron Works Company. Section 7 page 4 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Union Iron Works Historic District San Francisco, California Name of Property County and State noncontributing resources, including buildings, piers, slips, cranes, segments of a railroad network, and landscape elements. Most buildings are industrial, constructed of unreinforced brick masonry, concrete, and steel framing with corrugated iron or steel cladding. There are also several architect designed buildings from prominent San Francisco late nineteenth and early twentieth century architectural firms. Also present are modified waterfront structures inherent to shipbuilding and ship repair, including slipways, wharves, and floating drydocks, remnants of the district’s historical function. The property maintains exceptional integrity in terms of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. ____________________________________________________________________________ Narrative Description Site Overview Union Iron Works stands on what was once a small promontory surrounded by deep waters, called Point San Quentin in the 1850s and later renamed Potrero Point. By the late 1870s, Potrero Point was developed with industrial and residential buildings. No filling of the bay or grading of the point occurred prior to the construction of Union Iron Works during the early 1880s.2 In 1884, Union Iron Works