Structures and Monuments in Which California Stone was Used

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Structures and Monuments in Which
California Stone was Used

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Finished Product from California Stone in California (Continued)

San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Aronson Building at the corner of Third and Mission Streets across from the Gunst Building located on the opposite corner (From Report XIV of the State Mineralogist – Mines and Mineral Resources of Portions of California, Chapters of State Mineralogist’s Report – Biennial Period 1913-1914, Part II. “The Counties of Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Marin, Napa, Solano, Sonoma, Yolo,” by Walter W. Bradley, Field Assistant (field work in October, 1913), California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1916, pp. 173-370.)

“…(sandstone quarried by the Colusa Sandstone Company Quarry east of Sites in Colusa County, California) for the following prominent buildings in San Francisco was furnished by the Colusa Company: Butler (corner Geary and Stockton streets); French-American Bank; Monadnock (ten stories); Metropolis (now Merchants) National Bank; Aronson (corner Third and Mission streets); and the Gunst on the opposite corner; Kamm, above the Call Building; three Home Telephone buildings and the Spreckels band stand in Golden Gate Park….”

San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Baldwin & Howell Real Estate Building (from the San Francisco Call, September 10, 1906, pp. 5)

Baldwin & Howell to Construct Handsome Home on Kearney.
Building to Be of Brick with Sandstone Front.

“Plans have just been completed for the first permanent building to be erected on Kearny street. The structure when completed will be occupied by the real estate firm of Baldwin & Howell, its owners. The building will be constructed of brick with a front of Colusa sandstone.

“The interior will be one large room arranged for the various departments of Baldwin & Howell, with a mezzanine floor over the cashier’s department in the rea. Two large fire-proof vaults, one in the basement and another on the first floor, will afford ample protection for the books and papers of the real estate firm and many of their clients. The building will cover the lot, 60 feet front by 57:6 feet deep to Belden place, on the east side of Kearny street, 77:6 feet north of Bush, which was recently purchased by Baldwin & Howell from John C. and Edward Coleman.”

“Building to be erected by Baldwin & Howell, the realty firm, on Kearny Street. The structure will be of brick, with a front of Colusa sandstone.” (from the San Francisco Call, Sept. 10, 1906, pp. 5)

San Francisco, California – the Baldwin Hotel – some Mantel-Pieces – Excerpt from the Tenth Annual Report of The State Mineralogist For The Year Ending December 1, 1890, California State Mining Bureau, Sacramento: State Printing Office, pp. 1890, pp. 670-671

“The ‘onyx quarry’ is an isolated deposit of aragonite formed by mineral springs....A great deal of it, however, is laminated in extremely thin layers, which are sometimes not thicker than a sheet of pasteboard, and the laminæ being of different colors, this makes it very handsome when polished. It can also be got out here in large pieces though there is a good deal of waste. The counter in the office of the old ‘Chronicle’ building, at the corner of Bush and Kearney Streets, is said to be made of it, as well as some mantel-pieces in both the Palace and the Baldwin Hotels. The delicate laminæ are often wavy, thus adding much to its beauty. Other portions of the rock are of a somewhat translucent, milky white, which is also handsome when polished. This is the largest deposit of this beautiful, ornamental stone at present known to the writer to exist within the State.”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – Bank of America Building (originally the American National Bank), 300 Montgomery at California, S. F., CA (from “The McGilvray Family History,” by Basin Research Associates, Inc., August, 1989. Used with the permission and courtesy of Basin Research Associates, Inc., San Leandro (www.basinresearch.com) and the City of San Francisco Planning Department)

According to the “The McGilvray Family History,” “Bank of America, 300 Montgomery Street at California. (Originally American National Bank) All granite to the third floor. Well executed Ionic Order. Architect: George Kelham. An addition was made in 1940 by the Capitol Co. with granite provided by the California Cut Stone Company. J. D. McGilvray II did the working drawings and diagrams.”

San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – Bank of America Building, One Powell Street at Eddy Street (“originally was the head office of The Bank of Italy.”) (from “The McGilvray Family History,” by Basin Research Associates, Inc., August, 1989. Used with the permission and courtesy of Basin Research Associates, Inc., San Leandro (www.basinresearch.com) and the City of San Francisco Planning Department)

According to “The McGilvray Family History,” “Bank of America, One Powell Street at Eddy Street. Built in 1920, using granite to the first cornice with terra cotta above. Architect: Bliss & Faville. This originally was the head office of The Bank of Italy.”

San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - the Bank of California. (From “The Collection of Building and Ornamental Stones In The U. S. National Museum: A Hand-book and Catalogue,” By George P. Merrill, Curator, Department Lithology and Physical Geology, in Report of the United States National Museum Under the Direction of the Smithsonian Institutions For the Year Ending June 30, 1886. pp. 518.)

Blue sandstone from Angel Island, in the San Francisco Bay, was used in the construction of the bank building in 1865.

San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Bank of California Building, located on the northwest corner of California & Sansome Streets (The following information is from The Bankers’ Magazine: Rhodes Journal of Banking and the Bankers’ Magazine Consolidated, Vol. LXXV, July to December 1907, New York: The Bankers Publishing Co., available on Google Books – Full View Books.)

According to the chapter entitled, “San Francisco’s New Bank Buildings,” by Horatio F. Stoll, pp. 877-878, light gray Raymond granite was used for the exterior of the building. (Raymond granite is quarried at Raymond in Madera County, California.)
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Bank of California – Interior (The following information is from “Limestone in California,” by Clarence A. Logan, California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 43, No. 3, July 1947, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, California, pp. 175-357.

Marble from the Bear River Marble Quarry (previously known as the Holmes Lime & Cement Company) in Placer County was used on the interior of the Bank of California building. The marble is reportedly “a dark gray stone with jet black as well as white veining.”

San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Bank of Italy Building (The following information is from “Projects Utilizing Rocklin Granite,” compiled by members of the Rocklin Historical Society from various sources, 2011.)

“1920-1921 Bank of Italy, San Francisco”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Banking Hall – the Columns (history) The following information is from the September 2, 2008, Press Release, “Union Bank of California Commemorates a Century of Service at Its Historic San Francisco Banking Hall.” (The link from which the following information was obtained is no longer available.)
<https://www.unionbank.com/company_information/company_information/news/press_release_index/press_releases/uboc_commemorates_sanfran_bankinghall.jsp>

“According to a 1961 San Francisco Chronicle article, the building is ‘the best example of San Francisco’s early architecture,’ a ‘veritable temple of finance.’ The Banking Hall was designed by renowned architects Walter Danforth Bliss and William Baker Faville, who also collaborated on the Masonic Temple, St. Francis Hotel and Geary Theater. The building’s façade features impressive, four-story columns made from Sierra white granite, which arrived in pieces via horse-drawn carts….”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Bay-Shore Cut-Off Tunnels – the Portals (From Report XV of the State Mineralogist, Mines and Mineral Resources of Portions of California, Chapters of State Mineralogist’s Report Biennial Period 1915-1916, Part V. Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura counties, California State Mining Bureau, 1919.)

“Hogan Quarry…Beds of hard gray sandstone, a couple of hundred feet thick outcrop in Sycamore Cañon for several hundred feet. Stone from this quarry was used in building the breakwater at Santa Barbara; also in the portals of the Bay-Shore cut-off tunnels at San Francisco, and the Sespe, Piru, and Santa Clara railroad bridges in Ventura County. Idle for past five years.

“Bibl.: R. of M. Santa Barbara Co., 1906.”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Bellevue Hotel – Lobby & Corridor (today known as the Hotel Monaco), located at Geary & Taylor streets (The following excerpt is from “Marble Produced in California,” (PDF), in Rock Products: Stone Edition, August 5, 1909, Vol. IX, No. 1, pp. 3.)

“Lobby and corridor of Bellevue Hotel, San Francisco, Cal.”

“One of the handsomest jobs of marble work in the West is that in the Bellevue Hotel at Geary and Taylor Streets, San Francisco.* All the marble in this handsome hotel came from the new California quarries of the Baxter Marble Company, whose offices are in the Call Building, San Francisco. The marble is called California Pavanazzo on account of its similarity to the marble of that name found in Europe. It is crystalline in texture and formation and takes a high polish. There is a marble, almost black, used for the bottom base of the first part of the floor tile, which comes from the same locality.

“These quarries are located in Tuolumne county and the marble is sometimes called by this name.”

(* According to “It’s The Inn Thing,” by Wendy Tanaka, April 13, 1997, on SFGate.com, the former Bellevue Hotel, located at the corner of Geary and Taylor, was renovated and reopened in 1995 as the Hotel Monaco.)
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - the Bishop Building (From The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, California, State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1906.)

Marble from the Colton Marble Works Quarry in San Bernardino County was used in the construction of the Bishop Building.
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - Broderick Monument (From Geologic Guidebook Along Highway 49 - Sierran Gold Belt: The Mother Lode Country, Bulletin 141, Olaf P. Jenkins, Chief, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, California, 1949.)

"The stone from the Broderick Monument in San Francisco came from the Columbia quarry (in Tuolumne County, California).
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Brokers Building (The following information is from “Projects Utilizing Rocklin Granite,” compiled by members of the Rocklin Historical Society from various sources, 2011.)

“1876 Brokers Building San Francisco”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – Building of Colusa County Sandstone (photograph)

The photograph of a building of Colusa County sandstone. It is a part of the Photographs of the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire from the Charles Derleth Papers. It is described as: “Geary St. from Mutual Savings Bank. Colusa sandstone badly spalled.”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Butler Building at the Corner Geary and Stockton Streets (From Report XIV of the State Mineralogist – Mines and Mineral Resources of Portions of California, Chapters of State Mineralogist’s Report – Biennial Period 1913-1914, Part II. “The Counties of Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Marin, Napa, Solano, Sonoma, Yolo,” by Walter W. Bradley, Field Assistant (field work in October, 1913), California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1916, pp. 173-370.)

“…(sandstone quarried by the Colusa Sandstone Company Quarry east of Sites in Colusa County, California) for the following prominent buildings in San Francisco was furnished by the Colusa Company: Butler (corner Geary and Stockton streets); French-American Bank; Monadnock (ten stories); Metropolis (now Merchants) National Bank; Aronson (corner Third and Mission streets); and the Gunst on the opposite corner; Kamm, above the Call Building; three Home Telephone buildings and the Spreckels band stand in Golden Gate Park….”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park– Interior Decoration – Excerpt from “California Marble” (pdf), in Stone Magazine, Vol. VIII, No. 3, February 1894, pp. 254-257. (You can visit the California Academy of Sciences for more information.)

“Here again we have an immense deposit of marble very different in character from that of Inyo or Amador counties, at the same time it is a very fine material of different varieties. There is black, dark gray and blue, these are variegated; also pure white. The deposit is situated about one mile from the town of Colton...Their principal marble job was done in the interior of the new Academy of Sciences in this city (San Francisco).

“The California Architect and Building News.”
- San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the California Academy of Sciences Buildings (From The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, California, State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1906.)
  
  Brownstone (sandstone) from the Sespe Canon Brownstone Quarry (located from 5 to 6 miles from Brownstone, a station on the Southern Pacific Railroad) was used in the construction of the Academy of Sciences Building.
- San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the California Academy of Sciences (From The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, California, State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1906.)
  
  Marble from the California Portland Cement Company quarries located near Colton, San Bernardino County, California, was used as decorative building stone in the construction of the Academy of Sciences.
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the California Bank Building at Sansome & California Streets (The following information is from The Quarries (Alcatraz History), presented by the Angel Island Association.)

According to this web site, the stone used to construction the California Bank building was quarried on the east side of Angel Island.
San Francisco, California – the Chronicle Building
- San Francisco, California – the Chronicle Building - Counter in the Office - Excerpt from the Tenth Annual Report of The State Mineralogist For The Year Ending December 1, 1890, California State Mining Bureau, Sacramento: State Printing Office, pp. 1890, pp. 670-671
  
  “The ‘onyx quarry’ is an isolated deposit of aragonite formed by mineral springs...A great deal of it, however, is laminated in extremely thin layers, which are sometimes not thicker than a sheet of pasteboard, and the laminæ being of different colors, this makes it very handsome when polished. It can also be got out here in large pieces though there is a good deal of waste. The counter in the office of the old ‘Chronicle’ building, at the corner of Bush and Kearney Streets, is said to be made of it, as well as some mantel-pieces in both the Palace and the Baldwin Hotels. The delicate laminæ are often wavy, thus adding much to its beauty. Other portions of the rock are of a somewhat translucent, milky white, which is also handsome when polished. This is the largest deposit of this beautiful, ornamental stone at present known to the writer to exist within the State.”
- San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - the Chronicle Building (From The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, California, State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1906.)
  
  Sandstone from the O'Neal Sandstone Quarry (which was located about 8 miles south of Ione) was used in the construction of the Chronicle Building in San Francisco. The sandstone is described as having a "warm, rich, bright red color, and even, rather fine grain."
- San Francisco, California – the Chronicle Building Restoration & Sespe, Ventura County, Sandstone – Sespe Canyon sandstone was used in the restoration of the Chronicle building in San Francisco.
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - the Church of the Holy Innocents - Excerpt from the Tenth Annual Report of The State Mineralogist For The Year Ending December 1, 1890, California State Mining Bureau, Sacramento: State Printing Office, pp. 1890, pp. 20.

“San Francisco, August 22, 1890.

“Hon. Wm. Irelan, Jr.:

“Dear Sir: I would like to thank you for the assistance you have given me in finding red sandstone. I had been looking all over the State for red sandstone, and came here from Indianapolis in 1889 especially for that purpose, and was unsuccessful, until very lately, in finding any that suited my purpose in the State, although I was hunting for it for about six months.

“I heard of the Mining Bureau and happened to visit it one day and picked up a copy of the report, and in that report found a description of a deposit of red sandstone in Amador County. I immediately went to Amador County and secured the quarry. Found there was an immense body of it, at least forty acres, and about one hundred and seventy-five feet thick. I at once began to open it up, had the sandstone tested, found it to be of two qualities, a beautiful red and a pure white sandstone. We were very successful in selling the stone from the first day we started to work.

“The stone has been used in the California State Bank, corner of J and Fourth Streets, Sacramento, one of the finest buildings in the State; also in the Methodist Church in Stockton, one of the largest churches we have; and is now being used in the Christ Church in Alameda, and in the Church of the Holy Innocents in this city; also, the Crocker residence is being built of it almost entirely, and this will be one of the finest buildings ever put up here. It is also being used in a dozen other places in this city and State, namely, Ukiah Asylum, Ione Industrial School buildings, Home for the Feeble-Minded Children at Glen Ellen, Sacramento Post Office, and many other places.

“I had the stone tested by you and found that it will stand a crushing weight of seven thousand two hundred and ninety-five pounds to the square inch.

Bank in Sacramento - $35,000

Methodist Church in Stockton - $16,000

Crocker Building - $46,000

Ukiah Asylum, for this year - $26,000

“I can safely say, that through the discoveries of the State Mining Bureau, there will be at least $500,000 worth of stone taken from this quarry within the next three years, independent of the above, already provided for.

“Very respectfully yours, David O’Neil”

San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – City Hall (From Report XV of the State Mineralogist, Mines and Mineral Resources of Portions of California, Chapters of State Mineralogist’s Report Biennial Period 1995-1996, Part I. Alpine County, Inyo County, Mono County, California State Mining Bureau, 1919. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

“…In some portions the iron oxides have stained the travertine deep red and brown and a quarry was opened in 1895 and slabs of the material were used in the old City Hall in San Francisco. Some pieces could be obtained which would make good slabs marked by pleasing designs, but the most of the material is pitted and unfit for use. Not much of the material was ever quarried….”

The following is from a section entitled, “Travertine”:

“About one mile southeast of the town of Bridgeport is a deposit of travertine worthy of note. The property is patented and belongs to the California Travertine Co., E. P. Gray of Los Angeles, president.

“In 1895 a quarry was opened and some of the rock shipped, principally for work on the City Hall at San Francisco. Two slabs 4 ½’ x 6’ were the largest of which there is record of….”

San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – City Hall Building – Granite from McGilvray Raymond Granite Company, Madera County. (From Report XIV of the State Mineralogist – Mines and Mineral Resources of Portions of California, Chapters of State Mineralogist’s Report – Biennial Period 1913-1914, Part IV. “The Counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus,” by R. P. McLaughlin and Walter W. Bradley, Field Assistants (field work in July, 1913, and July, 1914), San Francisco, California, July, 1915, California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1916, pp. 173-370.)

Photo No. 129. Sculptural detail on City Hall, San Francisco. Stone from McGilray Raymond Granite Company, Madera County, California.

San Francisco, San Francisco County, San Francisco - City Hall Building. The following information is from "The Collection of Building and Ornamental Stones In The U. S. National Museum: A Hand-book and Catalogue,” By George P. Merrill, Curator, Department Lithology and Physical Geology, in Report of the United States National Museum Under the Direction of the Smithsonian Institutions For the Year Ending June 30, 1886, pp. 411-412.

Granite from either the Rocklyn or Penryn granite quarries in Placer County was used in the construction of the San Francisco City Hall.
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - City Hall Rotunda (From The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, California, State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1906.)

The marble used in the rotunda of the San Francisco City hall was quarried at the Carrara Marble Quarry in Amador County. The color of the marble in the quarry ranged from white with black streaks, white, and ash-colored marble.
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - City Hall. You can read about the San Francisco City Hall facts on the Sam Spade’s San Francisco web site and visit the San Francisco City Hall Virtual Tour.
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the City Hall (The following information is from “Projects Utilizing Rocklin Granite,” compiled by members of the Rocklin Historical Society from various sources, 2011.)

“1887 – City Hall, San Francisco”

San Francisco, California – the Old City Hall Cornerstone (Article from Stone: An Illustrated Magazine, May 1918, Vol. XXXIX, No. 5, pp. 28)

Historic Corner-Stone Lost

“Pretty nearly everything in this queer old world has been lost at some time or other, but the first record that we find of the losing of a cornerstone comes from San Francisco. After a search of eleven years an official description of the lost cornerstone of San Francisco’s old City Hall, which could never be recovered after the wreck of the building in the earthquake and fire, has just been found. It is contained in a mutilated, fire-scorched, dusty ledger picked up in the ruins of the old structure by John D. McDougald, city treasurer. It is disclosed for the first time that the cornerstone cost the city $3,778.11. It contained among other things, gold coins valued at $41.50, silver coins of the value of $2.20, a silver plate and trowel worth $218,58, rare coins, old wine and old records and maps. The stone was six feet long, five feet three inches wide and two feet six inches thick, the granite alone costing more than $100. The cornerstone was laid on February 22, 1872.

“Mayor Rolph, Timothy Reardon, head of the Board of Public Works, the Bureau of Architects and scores of other city officials have been looking for the old City Hall cornerstone for many months and have employed many investigators to try to find a clew (sic) to it. Until the finding of the above record, however, they have discovered nothing definite, and they have been further perplexed by the fact that the old City Hall was a circular structure, and it was difficult to find an angle where a ‘cornerstone’ could be laid.

“‘I am convinced now,’ said Treasurer McDougald, ‘that the cornerstone has been stolen. It seems impossible that such a huge piece of granite could have been overlooked. The value of the articles in the cornerstone certainly seems sufficient inducement for someone to have stolen the stone.’”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Civic Center Plaza Granite Surface (The following information is from “Projects Utilizing Rocklin Granite,” compiled by members of the Rocklin Historical Society from various sources, 2011.)

“1962 Renovation of granite surfaced plaza, Civic Center, San Francisco”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – Cobblestones

Piles of small granite blocks and metal container used to “distress” granite blocks at the Raymond Granite Quarry yard in Raymond, Madera County, California, for use in streets in San Francisco, California. (Photograph by Peggy B. Perazzo, 1998)

San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Conference Center in the Bently Reserve. The following information is from “The Bently Reserve to unveil world-class conference center,” press release dated April 4th, 2008, by Doug Hahn. (The link from which the following information was obtained is no longer available.)
<http://bentlyreserve.com/news/launch/bently-reserve-conference-room-unveiling/>

According to this press release, the facades of the building are of Sierra White granite. Sierra White granite is quarried at Raymond in Madera County, California.

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