Historical Context Statement Mid-Market Historical Survey
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Historical Context Statement Mid-Market Historical Survey Conducted for The San Francisco Redevelopment Agency June 30, 2011 DRAFTBy Tim Kelley Consulting, LLC 2912 Diamond Street #330, San Francisco, CA 94131 (415) 337-5824 // www.timkelleyconsulting.com Historical Context Statement Mid-Market Historical Survey PRIMARY AUTHORS: Tim Kelley Caitlin Paige Harvey Kara Fortuna ADDITIONAL RESEARCH: Karin Sidwell CONDUCTED FOR The San Francisco Redevelopment Agency June 30, 2011 BY Tim Kelley Consulting, LLC 2912 Diamond Street #330, San Francisco, CA 94131 DRAFT(415) 337-5824 // www.timkelleyconsulting.com Historic Context Statement Mid Market Redevelopment Area Contents I. INTRODUCTION. .1 A. Purpose. 2 B. Definition of Geographical Area. 2 C. Identification of Historic Contexts and Periods of Significance . 4 II. HISTORIC CONTEXTS . 5 A. Physical Development of the Area (1847-1930 & 1965-1974). 5 Spanish Exploration 1769-1847 . 5 Founding of Yerba Buena: 1835 . 5 American Conquest. 6 Gold Rush and American Urban Development, 1848-1906 . 7 Expansion Out Market Street . 8 Disaster and Re-Construction: 1906-1919. 14 1920s Movie Palaces. 17 Depression and World War II: 1930-1945. 17 Post War: 1946-1974. 17 B. Social and Cultural Development; Creating the New Middle Class (1870-1930). 19 C. Department Stores; Outfitting the Middle Class (1892-1962). 21 D. Department Store Employment; Enabling the Middle Class (1892-1962). 35 Gender. 35 Race. 37 Union Organization . 38 E. Popular Entertainment; Captivating the Middle Class (1880-1963). 41 Stage & Vaudeville. 41 Panoramas. 43 Sports & Recreation. 45 Nickelodeons. 48 Act Two 1906-1946. 51 Fade to Black; 1946-1974. 61 F. Social Space of Market Street (1880-1974). 64 G. Socio-Economic Decline of Mid-Market (1950-1974). 69 III. METHODOLOGY. 71 IV. IDENTIFICATION OF EXISTING HISTORIC STATUS . 72 A. Here Today. 72 B. 1976 Citywide Architectural Survey. 72 C. San Francisco Architectural Heritage . 73 D. Article 10 DRAFTof the San Francisco Planning Code. 73 E. Unreinforced Masonry Building (UMB) Survey. 73 F. National Register of Historic Places. 74 G. California Register of Historical Resources. 75 H. Other Surveys and Technical Reports. 76 June 30, 2011 Tim Kelley Consulting Historic Context Statement Mid Market Redevelopment Area V. DEFINITION OF PROPERTY TYPES. 77 A. Identification of Property Types Associated with Historic Contexts . 77 Commercial. 78 Theaters . 78 Department Stores. 79 Loft Buildings. 80 Small Commercial. 81 Residential. 82 Assembly/Fraternal. 84 Civic/Fraternal. 85 B. Distribution of Representative Building Types. 86 C. Condition of Resource Types. 86 VI. RECOMMENDATIONS. 87 A. Significance and Registration Requirements. 87 B. Other Preservation Goals and Strategies. 88 Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credits. 88 Façade Easements . 88 Mills Act. 89 State Historic Building Code. 89 Redevelopment Area. 90 C. Areas Requiring Future Work. 90 Historic Structure Reports. 90 District Expansion. 90 VII. CONCLUSION. 91 VIII. BIBLIOGRAPHY. 92 APPENDICES . 95 APPENDIX A: Buildings Rated in 1976 Citywide Architectural Survey . 95 APPENDIX B: Heritage Rated Buildings. 96 APPENDIX C: Buildings in Umb Survey. 99 APPENDIX D: National Register Rated Buildings. 101 DRAFT June 30, 2011 Tim Kelley Consulting Historic Context Statement Mid Market Redevelopment Area I. INTRODUCTION The Mid-Market area as defined for this Context Statement is a corridor along Market Street from 5th Street to 10th Street on the south side and Powell Street to Polk Street on the north, as well as most of the corresponding blocks on Mission Street and the connecting side streets and alleys. Along Market, it consists mainly of mid-rise masonry buildings designed as offices, lofts, hotels, department stores, theaters, and general commercial structures. Most date from circa 1907 to the late 1920s. Between Market and Mission are hotels, commercial structures, light industrial or small warehouse buildings (many former “back of the house” structures for Market Street buildings), and small apartment buildings. The scale here is smaller than on Market, and masonry construction predominates. Mission Street is a secondary commercial corridor, with masonry mid-rise commercial buildings and hotels. Their period and architectural style are somewhat later than the Market Street corridor, and they are smaller and less grand. Market Street is the principal thoroughfare of the city, as well as the most prominent feature of the Context area. The survey area itself is an important portion of downtown San Francisco. East of the area are larger high-rise office buildings and more frequent modern intrusions, while to the west, the architectural scale and massing diminish. Immediately north of the area is the Tenderloin neighborhood containing dense residential development, small retail establishments, and many bars, night clubs, and restaurants. The South of Market area (SOMA) was historically a dense residential neighborhood that was destroyed in the earthquake and fire of 1906. It was rebuilt as a primarily industrial area and is now becoming a more mixed zone of residential, light industrial, and entertainment uses. The area has been studied extensively in various historical surveys, beginning with the Splendid Survivors survey in 1977. Subsequently, the Market Street Theatre and Loft District, a National Register listed district which is contained within the present survey area, was documented in 1986. In 1997, historian Anne Bloomfield conducted a survey of Mid-Market with boundaries somewhat larger than the present area. Pertinent findings of these previous surveys have been updated and incorporated into the current survey. DRAFT June 30, 2011 1 Tim Kelley Consulting Historic Context Statement Mid Market Redevelopment Area A. Purpose The Mid-Market Historical Context Statement has been prepared by Tim Kelley Consulting, LLC (TKC) as part of the Mid-Market Redevelopment Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The EIR and Plan relate to the establishment of a Mid-Market Redevelopment area by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency (SFRA). TKC is a subconsultant to Environmental Science Associates (ESA), the primary Environmental consultant for the project. The major purpose for establishment of the Mid-Market Redevelopment Area is to facilitate creation of an Arts and Entertainment District in order to revive the area, which has fallen into social and economic decay. SFRA also envisions sponsoring major rehabilitation projects on a number of important buildings in the area, as well as façade restorations. The area is well suited to this plan since it contains a stock of theaters built in the early 20th century. This document will begin the process of determin- ing important historic contexts that will aid in understanding the history of the area, as well as identifying historical resources within it. Eventually, the process will also be helpful in guiding the rehabilitations and restorations envisioned. Historic Contexts are defined in Standard 1 of the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Preservation Planning, which states:. Decisions about the identification, evaluation, registration and treatment of historic proper- ties are most reliably made when the relationship of individual properties to other similar properties is understood. Information about historic properties representing aspects of his- tory, architecture, archeology, engineering and culture must be collected and organized to define these relationships. This organizational framework is called a “historic context.” The historic context organizes information based on a cultural theme and its geographical and chronological limits. Contexts describe the significant broad patterns of development in an area that may be represented by historic properties. The development of historic contexts is the foundation for decisions about identification, evaluation, registration and treatment of historic properties. 1 B. Definition of Geographical Area The survey area consists of slightly more than 91 acres of dense urban fabric extending south- west along Market Street from 5th Street to beyond 10th Street, including all buildings on both sides of Market Street, as well as most of the corresponding blocks between Market and Mission streets and three and a half blocks on the south side of Mission. On the north side of Market, the area extends from Powell Street to Polk Street. There is a total of approximately 167 buildings in the area. DRAFT 1 National Park Service, Standards for Preservation Planning; http://www.nps.gov/history/local-law/arch_stnds_1.htm June 30, 2011 2 Tim Kelley Consulting Historic Context Statement Mid Market Redevelopment Area Market Street is the principal thoroughfare of San Francisco. It is 120 feet wide and runs in a straight line due southwest from the waterfront at the Ferry Building slightly over three miles to the intersection of Castro Street. Historically, it terminated at Castro. Since the 1920s, it has continued on a more meandering route up the eastern slope of the central hills. In the survey area and as far west as Castro Street, it forms the axis along which two different street grids meet. The streets to the north are 68.75 feet wide and meet Market at angles approximately 9 degrees off the cardinal compass points, creating a series of irregular blocks with varying frontage of up to 480 feet on Market. The survey area includes those blocks with Market Street frontage as well as the Hibernia Bank and the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium,