Golden Era Building

1852 historic building in San Francisco

Golden Era Building

Location| 732-734 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, California, U.S.
Coordinates| 37°47′46″N 122°24′12″W﻿ / ﻿37.796212°N 122.403212°W﻿ / 37.796212; -122.403212
Built| 1852

San Francisco Designated Landmark

Designated| March 9, 1969[1]
Reference no.| 19

Location of Golden Era Building in San Francisco County

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Golden Era Building (California)

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Golden Era Building (the United States)

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Golden Era Building, formerly known as the Call Building,[2] is a historic commercial building built in 1852 during the California Gold Rush, and located at 732-734 Montgomery Street in the Jackson Square area of San Francisco, California.[3][4]

The Golden Era Building has been listed as a San Francisco Designated Landmark since March 9, 1969;[5] and is part of the Jackson Square Historic District which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.[6]

## History

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The Golden Era Building was constructed in 1852, built on the foundations of an 1849 structure that had been destroyed in the San Francisco Fire of 1851.[5] The cast iron pillars on the exterior of the building are from a remodel in 1892 and were created locally by the Vulcan Iron Works.[3]

In 1852, on the ground floor the space initially was occupied by Vernon Hall, which was rented out by fraternal societies and theatre troupes.[7] The building gets its name from the 19th-century literary newspaper, The Golden Era, which occupied the second floor of the building from December 1852 until approximately 1854.[3][8]

Other tenants of the building included Thomas Day's gas fixtures store (around 1863);[9][10] and John Monahan and Co., a printing company that did work for the San Francisco Railway and North Pacific Railway (around 1858).[2] The ground floor was later occupied by a crockery shop and a Chinese broom factory.[7][11] The second floor was later occupied by artist studios.[7]

## See also

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* List of San Francisco Designated Landmarks

## References

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1. ^ "City of San Francisco Designated Landmarks" (PDF). City of San Francisco. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
2. ^ a b The Inland Printer. Vol. 20\. Inland Printer Company. 1898.
3. ^ a b c Richards, Rand (2002). Historic Walks in San Francisco: 18 Trails Through the City's Past. Heritage House Publishers. pp. 168–169. ISBN 978-1-879367-03-6.
4. ^ DK Eyewitness Travel Guide San Francisco & Northern California. Penguin. 2015-10-06. p. 110\. ISBN 978-1-4654-4953-5.
5. ^ a b "San Francisco Landmark #19: Golden Era Building". noehill.com. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
6. ^ "National Register Information System – (#71000186)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
7. ^ a b c San Francisco in the 1930s: The WPA Guide to the City by the Bay. Federal Writers Project of the Works Progress Administration. University of California Press. 2011-04-05. p. 514\. ISBN 978-0-520-94887-7.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: others (link)
8. ^ Wiley, Peter Booth (2000-09-26). National Trust Guide / San Francisco: America's Guide for Architecture and History Travelers. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 150–151. ISBN 978-0-471-19120-9.
9. ^ Heritage Western Photography & Early Artifacts Auction #689. Heritage Capital Corporation. p. 9\. ISBN 978-1-59967-264-9.
10. ^ Rowlandson, Thomas (1861). The Sheep Breeder's Guide. San Francisco, California: J. Q. A. Warren. p. 7.
11. ^ "SF Insider: Four Architectural Landmarks on Montgomery Street, San Francisco". SFGate. Retrieved 2022-11-12.