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 - Pacific Insurance Building (From The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, California, State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1906.)

Brownstone (sandstone) from the Sespen 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 Pacific Insurance building.
San Francisco, California – the Palace Hotel
- San Francisco, California – the Palace 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 – Palace Hotel - Columbia Marble Company’s Quarry, Tuolumne County, CA (marble)
  
  About 800 tons was used in the merchants’ Exchange Building in San Francisco. Also used as pavements and stairways of the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. (From The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, San Francisco, California, 1906.)
- "The Palace Hotel in San Francisco (1874)," in the Manufacturer and Builder, December 1874, Vol. 6, No. 12, pp. 275, on the Cornell University, Making of America, Library of Congress web site. This is the main web address if you wish to search for other subjects: Library of Congress, American Memories, Nineteenth Century in Print.
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Palace Hotel (The following information is from “Projects Utilizing Rocklin Granite,” compiled by members of the Rocklin Historical Society from various sources, 2011.)

“1874 Palace Hotel, San Francisco”

San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the “new” Palace Hotel built circa 1909 (The following article is from Stone: An Illustrated Magazine, February 1909, Vol. XXXIX, No. 9, pp. 398-400.)

Native Decorative Stones

California Marble and Utah Limestone in the New Palace Hotel

“We present two interesting views of the new Palace Hotel, San Francisco. This is one of the handsomest structures on the Pacific Coast, and it is notable for the magnificent interior stone work, done in native marbles and limestones. The marble was furnished by the Baxter Marble Company, and was taken from the quarries of this company at Columbia, Cal. (Tuolumne County) As a general rule a photograph can give no idea of the beauty of a decorative marble. This ‘California Antique,’ as it is called, is so brilliant and has such a marked and beautiful pattern that its richness and effectiveness can be judged even through the medium of a photograph. The groundmass of the marble is white, and it is clouded and mottled with black in a manner that is not surpassed by any of the famous decorative marbles of Italy. There is opportunity for wide use of this marble in America.

“The stone that is used in connection with the marble, and that is shown to best effect in a magnificent fire place and chimney, is a fine-grained limestone from Manti, Utah, known as the Sanpete White Stone. This is produced from quarries owned and operated by Parry Bros., of Manti, from which they began shipping stone in the spring of 1883. Being the first to operate quarries in Utah for commercial purposes they are entitled to call themselves the ‘Pioneer Stone Men of Utah.’ Owing to the color of their stone and their business methods, they are dubbed ‘the White Stone Men.’

“Parry Brothers have supplied stone for a number of notable buildings in Utah and elsewhere. Among their most striking jobs might be mentioned the large stones for the cornices of the Mormon Temple at Salt Lake City; Ex-Senator Kearn’s mansion, the David Keith palatial residence, the J. D. Wood residence, Packard Library, Utah Savings Trust Company Bank, Orpheum, Herald Building, Salt Lake City; Carnegie Library and Masonic Temple at Ogden, Carnegie Library and Knight residence, Provo; Eccles residence, Logan; a bank building in Oakland, Cal.; the Palace Hotel, illustrated herewith, with the reredos and altar of St. Luke’s Church, Baer Building, and numerous other elaborate and expensive structures in San Francisco. They have shipped their stone to Sacramento for the interior decorations of the State Capitol, and also some to Los Angeles.

“New Palace Hotel, San Francisco, Cal. Decorative Marble from Columbia, Cal., Wall Stone from Manti, Utah.” (pp. 399)

“New Palace Hotel, San Francisco, Cal. Decorative Marble from Columbia, Cal., Wall Stone from Manti, Utah.” (1909)

“New Palace Hotel, San Francisco. Walls and Fireplace of Sanpete White Stone from Manti, Utah; Floor of California Antique Marble, Columbia, Cal.” (pp. 400)

New Palace Hotel, San Francisco. Walls and Fireplace. (1909)

Parry Brothers are now engaged in furnishing stone to be used in the interior decorations of Mr. Harriman’s mansion in New York. This stone is admirably suited for the finest kind of interior decoration, owing to its soft, warm and attractive tint, being a delicate cream color. In carving, it shows the most effective lights and shades. The grain is extremely fine, and it is easily worked, requiring but little expense for sharpening tools. It is also of close texture, holding a sharp arris, and it does not stun readily; hence it will allow of the most delicate and intricate carving.”

San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - the “new” Palace Hotel (The following excerpt is from Rock Products: Stone Edition, Vol. IX, No. 2, September 5, 1909, pp. 18.

“The West Coast – San Francisco, Cal., Aug. 18

“The business in granite, sandstone and limestone was very quiet for a month or two during the spring but there has been considerable revival since then, and the letting of some large contracts in the past month has brought the activity fully up to normal. The completion of the Palace Hotel structure, the lower story of which is faced with Utah manti, has given a strong impetus to the demand for that stone, which is specified for some of the largest buildings now under way, though local sandstone, which is much harder, is also getting a good share of the business, especially on public buildings.”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - the Park Emergency Hospital (From The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, California, State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1906.)

Sandstone from the McGilvray Stone Company sandstone quarry, located three fourths of a mile east of Sites, Colusa County, was used in the construction of the Park Emergency Hospital.
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – Paving Blocks used in San Francisco (Granite) (Excerpts from Ninth Annual Report of The State Mineralogist For The Year Ending December 1, 1889 (pdf), California State Mining Bureau, Sacramento: California State Printing Office, 1890.)

“At Temecula Station there was lying (November 10, 1889) a considerable quantity of dressed street paving blocks of a moderately coarse-grained, light-gray granite, which is stained more or less yellowish in places by oxide of iron.

“The rock seems to be hard and durable, and splits and dresses well. It has been used for paving-blocks in Los Angeles and San Diego, all for street curbing in both those cities, and also in San Francisco. The quarry from which it comes is situated in the foothills on the southwest edge of the valley, about half a mile southeasterly from the head of Temecula Cañon....”
- San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – Paving Blocks used in San Francisco (Granite) (Excerpts from Ninth Annual Report of The State Mineralogist For The Year Ending December 1, 1889 (pdf), California State Mining Bureau, Sacramento: California State Printing Office, 1890.
  
  “At Temecula Station there was lying (November 10, 1889) a considerable quantity of dressed street paving blocks of a moderately coarse-grained, light-gray granite, which is stained more or less yellowish in places by oxide of iron.
  
  “The rock seems to be hard and durable, and splits and dresses well. It has been used for paving-blocks in Los Angeles and San Diego, all for street curbing in both those cities, and also in San Francisco. The quarry from which it comes is situated in the foothills on the southwest edge of the valley, about half a mile southeasterly from the head of Temecula Cañon....”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Pink Triangle Park & Memorial – the Granite Pylons (history) The following information was from the Castro CBD web site. (The link from which the following information was obtained is no longer available.)
<http://castrocbd.org/content/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=41&Itemid=65>

According to the section on the Pink Triangle Park and Memorial, “…The park’s centerpiece is an arrangement of 15 sierra-white granite pylons, each inlaid at the top with a pink triangle….” (The Sierra White granite was quarried at Raymond in Madera County, California.)
San Francisco, California – the Post Office (From Stone: An Illustrated Magazine, July 1899, Vol. XIX, No. 2, pp. 149-150)

“The Fight Over the San Francisco Post-Office.”

“One of the hottest fights the stone trade has known for years has been over the bidding for supplying granite for the new United States Post Office building at San Francisco. This has kept several States aroused for weeks, has set Congressmen and politicians hard at work pulling all wires within reach, has called out reams of newspaper controversy, and has even caused the appointment of a special Government commission. The story of the controversy is an interesting one, but in the absence of an official report it is difficult to get at the exact facts. No two accounts of the matter agree. The papers published in the States where the different contractors live all tell stories that widely vary in the most essential particulars. The main points in the fight are as follows: Several months ago the National Government advertised for bids for the stone work, etc., for the new post office and court house at San Francisco. The specifications called for ‘granite,’ and no particular kind was indicated. As the amount of granite required on the contract was 135,000 feet, or 15,000 tons, the bidding naturally aroused great interest. The bids were opened on April 17, at the office of the architect at Washington. W. H. Ellis, of Cincinnati, put in one bid, specifying the use of Peerless granite. This is from the Index quarry, Washington. He also put in a higher bid, specifying the Delano granite, from California. The California Construction Company based its bid on the use of Rocklin, California, granite. The Bentley Construction Company specified the Raymond, California, granite. Finally the John A. Davidson Company, of Chicago, put in a bid, higher than the others, specifying the use of Maine granite. Then began the merry war. The people of California made the not unnatural claim that, inasmuch as the building as in their own leading city, it should be built of stone native to the State. The San Francisco ‘Evening Post’ voiced the sentiment of the people as follows:

“‘If the new post office were an ornamental structure, designed to gratify the fancy of a notional man or an individual crank, it might not be inappropriate to build it of stone dug in Texas, Maine, South Carolina or any other State; but, as a matter of fact, it is a public building, and the Government ought to desire to construct it in a practical and economical manner. There may be, and probably is, objection to some of the stone quarried in California. Perhaps Rocklin granite is not adapted to such a building as the new post office is designed to be; but there are other quarries in the State from which the very best material may be obtained. Those located in the County of Inyo, for instance, yielded the marble and granite out of which the Mills Building was constructed, and no prettier edifice than that exists anywhere. If the Treasury Department officials who have charge of letting the contract of the new post office authorize from other States the use of material which can be obtained in this State, they will justly merit the criticisms, not only of our people generally, but of our capitalists, whose money is invested in quarries and who are trying to develop the marble and stone industries of the coast.’

“But the State of Washington had something to say to this. The Chamber of Commerce of Seattle addressed the following letter to James K. Taylor, the supervising architect at Washington:

“‘Substitution of California granite at this time would be a distinct condemnation of Washington granite, for purely local reasons. These reasons are not creditable to those urging the change, for they are simply and solely that the building should be a State affair instead of a National, and that more Government money would thereby be spent among Californians in its construction. This is selfish and unpatriotic. Were the building put up by the State itself for its own purposes the course recommended, if pursued, would be more or less praiseworthy. In a National building, paid for and owned by all alike, it would be reprehensible in the extreme. It is not urged, we believe, that the Washington granite is inferior, and in truth it cannot be so urged. The granite here is first class and in every way fit for Government houses at San Francisco, Washington, D.C., or anywhere else. The Federal Building at Portland, erected nearly thirty years ago, was constructed of Washington sandstone. This State is noted above all others for the abundance, excellence and variety of its house-building materials. There are lime, cement, stones, timbers of many kinds, and clays, from which common, pressed, fire and other bricks are made, as also terra cotta. That the Government of the United States should place its condemnation upon any of these materials, with no more reason than in the California case, is not to be contemplated for a moment.’

“But this was not the final word. Senator Mason, of Illinois, took up the cudgels for the John A. Davidson Company proposed to use Maine granite, the Senators and Congressmen from that State took a hand in the row, to push the claims of the latter. So, then, at last the fight stretched clear across the continent, from Maine to California. Some of the contestants came to actual blows at Washington.

“At this point of the controversy a special Government committee was appointed to examine and report upon the several grades of California granite offered. The committee consisted of Hon. Frank A. Vanderlip, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury; Dr. Caleb Whitehead, an expert chemist, attached to the Mint Bureau, and Mr. J. W. Roberts, of San Francisco, superintendent of the public building. The committee visited the quarries and inspected a number of buildings where the granites had been used. It reported that the Raymond granite was as durable as any to be found. Meanwhile the first bids had been rejected and new ones called for. On these the contract was finally awarded to the Bentley Construction Company at $802,500, to use the Raymond granite. So San Francisco’s post office will be built of California granite, after all.”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - the Post Office (This photograph is from The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, California, State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1906, pp. 29.)

Ill. No. 5. San Francisco’s New Post office. Exterior of Raymond Granite.
- San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Post Office (The following information is from “Projects Utilizing Rocklin Granite,” compiled by members of the Rocklin Historical Society from various sources, 2011.)
  
  “1899 San Francisco Post Office, San Francisco”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - the Real Estate Associates’ 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 the Rocklin and/or Penryn granite quarries in Placer County was used in the construction of the Real Estate Associates’ building.
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - the Rialto Building (From The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, California, State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1906.)

The (Colton Marble Works, located near Colton in San Bernardino County, California) marble is principally used for ornamental building purposes, but some monument work is turned out. It has been used in the…Rialto building, San Francisco, in the latter being trimmed with the verde antique marble.…”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - San Francisco’s Sandstone Buildings circa the 1860s (The following excerpt is from The Natural Wealth of California Comprising Early History; Geography, Topography, and Scenery; Climate; Agriculture and Commercial products; Geology, Zoology, and Botany; Mineralogy, Mines, and Mining Processes; Manufactures; Steamship Lines, Railroads, and Commerce; Immigration, Population and Society; Educational Institution, Population and Society; Educational Institutions and Literature; Together with a detailed description of each county, its topography, Scenery, Cities and Towns, Agricultural Advantages, Mineral Resources, and Varied Productions, By Titus Fey Cronise, San Francisco: H. H. Bancroft & Company, 1868, pp. 153. The book is available on Google Book Search for reading or downloading to your computer in PDF format.)

“Alameda county contains large quarries of granite, limestone and sandstone, suitable for building purposes. The quarry from which the stone used in erecting the Deaf and Dumb and Blind Asylum was obtained, is situated on Pryal’s ranch, about four miles from Oakland. The supply of this stone in exhaustless. A quarry of close-grained, grayish sandstone, has recently been opened about four miles from Hayward’s. Nearly all the brown sandstone used in San Francisco, is obtained from quarries in this vicinity.”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – San Francisco Buildings – Serpentine (from “A California Verde Antique Quarry,” (PDF) by Prof. Charles F. Holder in Scientific American, Vol. LXXXI, No. 25, December 16, 1899, pp. 393-394. You can read this article in PDF by clicking on the link found earlier in this paragraph.)

“…The new city hall of Los Angeles and many of the fine buildings in that city and San Francisco are finished in (serpentine quarried at Empire Landing on Santa Catalina Island), the stone taking a rich polish, abounding in greens and yellows, grays and black….”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the San Francisco Call Building (from “Mono Travertine,” San Francisco Call, Vol. 79, No. 6, December 6, 1895, pp. 6)

Mono Travertine, Bridgeport Chronicle-Union

“The following telegram was published in The Call of the 25th:

Thirty Tons of Travertine Shipped from Inyo Quarry.

“Carson, Nev., Nov. 24. – Thirty tons of travertine from Inyo County quarry, which arrived here yesterday, was shipped to San Francisco to-day for the new Call building. This rock has been carefully selected from the finest of the calcium production of the quarry, and its handsome crystalline appearance when polished will add to the ornamentation of The Call’s new home.

“The above-mentioned travertine was from Bridgeport, Mono County, which has the only known travertine quarry outside of Europe. There is no travertine in Inyo County, and the above dispatch was probably sent by some one interested in the Inyo Marble Works, which is mostly owned in Carson. We wish to remind our friends of The Call that this travertine is from Mono County. Let every ‘tub stand on its own bottom.’ Mono County took the gold medal at the World’s Fair at Chicago as having the best marble in the world, and Mono also has the best travertine in the world, and The Call building will be the finest in San Francisco.”

San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – San Francisco Civic Center Buildings (photograph and history) The following information is from “Architecture of the Main Library” on the San Francisco Public Library web site.

According to this web site, Sierra White granite* was used for the façade of the San Francisco Civic Center buildings. “…Its Sierra White granite facade, obtained from the quarry that provided the stone for other Civic Center buildings, is consistent with its Beaux Arts style….” (* Sierra White granite is quarried at Raymond in Madera County, California.)
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the San Francisco Opera House (The following information is from “Projects Utilizing Rocklin Granite,” compiled by members of the Rocklin Historical Society from various sources, 2011.)

“circa 1900’s Big Gun Mining Co. crushed quartz from Big Gun property at Michigan Bluff, CA, for...S.F. Opera House...per Epperson family”

San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the San Francisco Presidio – the Lombard, Arguello, & Broadway Gates

These photographs of the Lombard Gate leading into the San Francisco Presidio were contributed by Oleg Lobykin, who is a stone carver who operates Stonesculpt in East Palo Alto. Oleg Lobykin and his workmen restored the gates in 2009 for the Presidio Trust.


Oleg Lobykin (left) & his workmen restoring the Lombard Gate at the San Francisco Presidio	The Lombard Gate at the San Francisco Presidio after restoration in 2009

“Presidio’s ‘Front Door’ Getting Makeover: Lombard Gate Project Completes Restoration of Presidio’s Historic Gateways,” press release by the Presidio Trust, June 2, 2009. (While the link from which the following information was obtained is no longer available, the Internet Archive Wayback Machine has a link for the article from 2009.)
<http://www.presidio.gov/trust/press/pressreleases/lombard.htm>

“By the end of the summer, the restoration of the gates at the Presidio’s three historic entrances – the Lombard, Presidio, and Arguello gates – will be complete.”

“Built in the late 1890’s, the Presidio’s ‘front door,’ is getting a substantial makeover. The Lombard Gate’s four sandstone piers and adjacent walls are being restored, its cast iron and steel gates and fences are being repaired, and two new light fixtures are being installed atop the gate’s taller piers….”

“For the painstaking task of recreating the intricate carvings on the gate’s piers, the Presidio Trust has again turned to master carver Oleg Lobykin (Stonesculpt in East Palo Alto) who performed the restoration of the Arguello Gate last year, at one point using the Lombard gate as a reference….”
“Presidio gate’s makeover restores 1896 look,” by Sam Whiting, Chronicle Staff Writer, Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Oleg Lobykin, who is a stone carver and who operates Stonesculpt in East Palo Alto, restored the military motifs atop the sandstone piers in mid-2009. Lobykin spent years restoring the Main Quad at Stanford University.

“The four piers are made of Colusa sandstone, with four carvings on top of each….”
“Presidio’s Historic Arguello Gate Gets Facelift,” press release by the Presidio Trust, July 21, 2008. (While the original link from which the following information was obtained is no longer available, the Internet Archive Wayback Machine has a link to the article from 2008.)
<http://www.presidio.gov/trust/press/pressreleases/Historic+Arguello+Gate+Gets+Facelift.htm>

“The Arguello gate was constructed by the U.S. Army in 1896.”

The capstone that sits atop the gate’s southwest pier was replaced, having been knocked off when a truck crashed into the pier in 1996.

Arguello Gate to the San Francisco Presidio. The following photographs were contributed by Oleg Lobykin, who is a stone carver and who operates Stonesculpt in East Palo Alto. Stonesculpt was awarded the 2009 Preservation Design Award from California Preservation Foundation in category preservation/craftsmanship for the Arguello Gate sandstone restoration.


Arguello Gate at the San Francisco Presidio in which Colusa sandstone was used	Restoration of the Arguello Gate Piers by Stonesculpt employees at the San Francisco Presidio


Detail of restoration work on sandstone pier at the Arguello Gate at the San Francisco Presidio by Oleg Lobykin of Stonesculpt	Detail of restoration work on sandstone pier at the Arguello Gate at the San Francisco Presidio by Oleg Lobykin of Stonesculpt

Broadway Gate to the San Francisco Presidio. The following photographs were contributed by Oleg Lobykin, who is a stone carver and who operates Stonesculpt in East Palo Alto. He and his workmen worked on the Broadway Gate.


The Broadway Gate into the San Francisco Presidio	New finial (of Colusa sandstone) before it was placed on the southern pier of the Broadway Gate into the San Francisco Presidio

“The Broadway Gate was built in 1897 from Colusa sandstone. The gate consists of two piers, each with a cubic capstone and a round finial. In 2010, the southern pier was significantly displaced after being hit by a truck.

“Minor displacement also occurred in the northern pier. This project focused on disassembling the piers, and reassembling them in their proper placement. The piers were also cleaned, graffitti removed, and eroded surfaces were patched with Jahn M70.

“The original finial on the southern pier was missing; a replacement was carved from Colusa sandstone. Dimensions for the new finial were measured from the existing finial on the northern pier.”

San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the San Francisco Public Library (photograph and history) The following information is from “Architecture of the Main Library” on the San Francisco Public Library web site.

According to this web site, Sierra White granite* was used for the façade of the San Francisco Public Library building. “…Its Sierra White granite facade, obtained from the quarry that provided the stone for other Civic Center buildings, is consistent with its Beaux Arts style….” (* Sierra White granite is quarried at Raymond in Madera County, California.)
- San Francisco Public Library Photographs on Flickr
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Sherith Israel Synagogue
- According to a member of the congregation, Colusa sandstone was used for the construction of the building. He described the color of the Colusa sandstone as “medium gray with traces of brown.” It is not known from which of the two Colusa County sandstone quarries the stone was quarried. (You can see a photograph of the synagogue on Flickr and Google Images.)
- “At long last, temple retrofit begins,” April 26, 2010 article on The New Fillmore web site, about the restoration of the Sherith Israel.
  
  This article states, “… (the Sherith Israel) will lose its distinctive salmon pink paint job and emerge next year in its original gray-green color of unpainted Colusa sandstone….”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - the Shreve Building (From The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, California, State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1906.)

Sandstone from the McGilvray Stone Company sandstone quarry, located three fourths of a mile east of Sites, Colusa County, was used in the construction of the Shreve Building at the corner of Grant avenue and Post street.
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Spreckels Temple of Music in Golden Gate Park (photographs and history)

Colusa sandstone was used in the construction of the Temple of Music, a gift of Claus Spreckels. The temple was completed in 1900. You can read about the restoration of the Temple of Music in the article, “San Francisco Pavilions Reborn,” by Eve M. Kahn. The architect was Carey & Co., Inc. New rosettes and coffers were carved by Kopeluv Cut Stone in Bernalillo, New Mexico.
- San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Spreckels Temple of Music – Golden Gate Park (photograph and history) The following is presented on the American Guide Series on Waymarking.com.
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - the St. Francis Hotel (From The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, California, State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1906.)

Sandstone from the McGilvray Stone Company sandstone quarry, located three fourths of a mile east of Sites, Colusa County, was used in the construction of the St. Francis Hotel.

Ill. No. 52. St. Frances Hotel, San Francisco. Colusa Sandstone.

This photograph of the St. Francis Hotel is 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.)

Photo No. 175. St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco (December, 1913). Colusa sandstone.
- San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - the Saint Francis Hotel (from “Colusa County Sandstone Builds Some of The World’s Most Famous Buildings,” by John L. Morton, Colusa County Historian and Colusa County CAGenWeb Project Coordinator. (Data from the Wagon Wheel, a periodical of the Colusa County Historical Society)
  
  “Many fine buildings are attributed to the McGilvray Quarry, among them the Saint Francis Hotel. From John McGilvray’s niece, Mrs. Jessie Sturrock Shoopman of Williams, whose father, Henry Sturrock, was superintendent, comes an interesting story of the two great pillars at the entrance of the St. Francis. This is the story: the season was winter shortly after the turn of the century, sometime after midnite. The two great matching blocks of stone that were to dignify the entrance to the St. Francis, lay upon the hillside. The next day the huge mobile derrick would raise them up to the stiff leg derrick which, in its turn, transported the stones down the hillside and gently set them on flat cars of the Colusa Lake Railroad for their final journey to San Francisco. A heavy storm came up. Mr. Sturrock, fearing what might happen to the loosened earth on the hillside, paced the floor. At 2:00 a.m. his fears were realized as a great landslide came down upon the pillars completely destroying one of them. It took months of work at an expense of hundreds of dollars to quarry another pillar equally as fine as the one that was destroyed. Could one ever gaze upon the pillars at the entrance of the Saint Francis without visualizing the tense hours of the watchers on that fatal night....”
- San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Saint Francis Hotel Façade (history) The following information is from National Trust Guide – San Francisco: America’s Guide for Architecture and History Travelers, by Peter Booth Wiley, pp. 200.
  
  According to this book, gray Colusa sandstone* was used for the façade of the Saint Francis Hotel. (* Colusa sandstone was quarried near Sites in Colusa County, California.)
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - St. Mary’s Cathedral (The following information is from History of Solano County...San Francisco, Cal., Wood, Alley & Co., East Oakland, 1879, pp. 438-439.)

“DILLON, PATRICK W.

“farmer and stone cutter, Section 28, Benicia Township, Post-office Benicia, was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, February 3, 1820...In May, 1851, he came to Benicia, bringing with him eighteen hundred dollars, which he invested in the wharf built at Vallejo while the Capitol of the State was situated at that place.

“In 1851, he opened a stone quarry on his fruit farm, and in connection with the other, started the Pioneer Stone Business in San Francisco, and among the contracts taken by him, is the St. Mary’s Cathedral, at San Francisco, and many other buildings. In 1856, he purchased his present farm, now consisting of four hundred acres of land, an seventy-six acres of tule. He married, at St. Mary’s Cathedral, San Francisco, Bertha G. Jordan, January 6, 1856....”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - Sandstone Buildings in San Francisco circa the 1860s (The following excerpt is from The Natural Wealth of California Comprising Early History; Geography, Topography, and Scenery; Climate; Agriculture and Commercial products; Geology, Zoology, and Botany; Mineralogy, Mines, and Mining Processes; Manufactures; Steamship Lines, Railroads, and Commerce; Immigration, Population and Society; Educational Institution, Population and Society; Educational Institutions and Literature; Together with a detailed description of each county, its topography, Scenery, Cities and Towns, Agricultural Advantages, Mineral Resources, and Varied Productions, By Titus Fey Cronise, San Francisco: H. H. Bancroft & Company, 1868, pp. 153. The book is available on Google Books for reading or downloading to your computer in PDF format.)

“Alameda county contains large quarries of granite, limestone and sandstone, suitable for building purposes. The quarry from which the stone used in erecting the Deaf and Dumb and Blind Asylum was obtained, is situated on Pryal’s ranch, about four miles from Oakland. The supply of this stone in exhaustless. A quarry of close-grained, grayish sandstone, has recently been opened about four miles from Hayward’s. Nearly all the brown sandstone used in San Francisco, is obtained from quarries in this vicinity.”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - the Spreckles Building (from “Colusa County Sandstone Builds Some of The World’s Most Famous Buildings,” by John L. Morton, Colusa County Historian and Colusa County CAGenWeb Project Coordinator.)

Many fine buildings are attributed to the McGilvray sandstone quarry located at Sites, Colusa County, California, including the Spreckles building.
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Standard Oil Building Interior (From “Mines and Mineral Resources of Tuolumne County, California,” by Clarence A. Logan, California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 45, No. 1, January 1949, pp. 47-83.)

“Marble from the Bell Columbia Marble Quarry* was used before 1928 in San Francisco in the interior of the 22-story Standard Oil Building, in the Golden Gate Theater, Loews Warfield Theater, and the Metropolitan Life Building. (* This quarry was also known as the Bell Marble Quarry.)
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Starr King Building (The following information is from “Projects Utilizing Rocklin Granite,” compiled by members of the Rocklin Historical Society from various sources, 2011.)

“circa 1900? Starr King Building in San Francisco built by J. P. Whitney may have used Rocklin Granite (does it still exist?) eej”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, San Francisco County, California - the Stock Exchange 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 the Rocklin and/or Penryn granite quarries in Placer County was used in the construction of the Stock Exchange building.
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - Streets of San Francisco - Salt Point State Park - Quarry, presented by the California Department of Parks and Recreation. (The following quotation is taken from the web site.)

Sandstone and Tafoni
”Ever wonder where the streets of San Francisco came from? Sandstone from Salt Point was used in the construction of San Francisco’s streets and buildings during the mid 1800's. If you look closely at the rocks at Gerstle Cove, you can still see eyebolts where the ships anchored while sandstone slabs were loaded onboard. Quarried rocks can still be seen scattered along the marine terrace north of Gerstle Cove. Look for the drill holes along the edges of the rocks that were used to separate the large rocks into smaller slabs.”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - Street Curbing & Granite Fronts of San Francisco - 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. 413.
Placer County, by J. B. Hobson, E.M., Assistant in the Field.

“The granite quarries are another source of revenue to the people of Placer. The inexhaustible quarries at Lincoln, Rocklin, Loomis, and Penryn afford stone of all shades from the lightest gray to an almost jet black when polished. Great quantities of this stone are free from iron, and the convenient railroad offers shipping facilities which makes quarrying for distant markets profitable.

“The street curbing and granite fronts of San Francisco are nearly all from the Placer quarries, while the State Capitol, the Stockton Court House, and the Crocker monument are examples of the value and beauty of this foothill granite. The amount of business in this industry varies with the season, but it runs well up into the hundred thousands of dollars every year.”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the San Francisco Branch Mint Building – the Interior Work - Marble Tiling for the Floor (From The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, California, State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1906.)

The marble tiling for the floor of the San Francisco branch mint building was quarried at what was known circa 1906 as the Holmes Lime Company’s Quarry in Placer County, California, by a man named Pritchard. According to Charles A. Logan’s “Limestone in California,” (California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 43, No. 3, July 1947, pp. 175-357) The marble is reportedly “a dark gray stone with jet black as well as white veining.”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Transamerica Building (The following information is from “Projects Utilizing Rocklin Granite,” compiled by members of the Rocklin Historical Society from various sources, 2011.)

“1977 Rocklin’s Union Granite Co. crushed 6000 tons of Bear River quartz for the white surface of the pyramid shaped Transamerica Building, San Francisco”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Trinity Episcopal Church on the corner of Bush and Gough Streets. The following information is from the book, Inventing the Dream: California Through the Progressive Era, by Kevin Starr, pp. 186, limited preview available on Google Books.

According to this book, “rough-hewn granite-gray Colusa Sandstone” was used in the construction of the Trinity Episcopal Church.
- San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Trinity Episcopal Church (photographs and history) The information on and photographs are presented on the Here Comes the Guide web site.
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Union Savings Bank Building (The following information is from “Projects Utilizing Rocklin Granite,” compiled by members of the Rocklin Historical Society from various sources, 2011.)

“1893 San Francisco Union Savings Bank”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the United States Custom House (The following quotation is from “Letters From California,” (Sacramento & San Francisco), in the American Weekly Traveler, Vol. XIV, No. 6, Boston, Massachusetts, August 6, 1852.

“The Custom House contractors are filling in the water lot with stone from Telegraph Hill and will have the job completed in six months from date….”

“The yield of gold dust is best judged by the shipments for June, amounting to 5 1-2 millions entered at the Custom House, without reckoning that in hands of passengers. The mines have never yielded more abundantly or future prospects looked brighter.”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - the United States Mint. (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 and 412.)

Sandstone from New Castle Island, Gulf of Georgia, British Columbia, was used in the construction of the United States Mint in 1874. Granite from either the Rocklin or Penryn granite quarries in Placer County was used in the construction of the United States Mine.
- San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the United States Mint (The following information is from “Projects Utilizing Rocklin Granite,” compiled by members of the Rocklin Historical Society from various sources, 2011.)
  
  “1867 United States Mint, San Francisco”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California - the W. P. Fuller Building (From The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, California, State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1906.)

Sandstone from the McGilvray Stone Company sandstone quarry, located three fourths of a mile east of Sites, Colusa County, was used in the construction of the W. P. Fuller Building at the corner Mission and Beale streets.
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Wells Fargo Building (The following information is from “Projects Utilizing Rocklin Granite,” compiled by members of the Rocklin Historical Society from various sources, 2011.)

“1888 Wells Fargo Bank Building, San Francisco”
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California – the Western Union Building (from “New Home for Western Union Will Be Erected by A. B. McCreery,” San Francisco Call, October 9, 1906, pp. 5)

“Work has been started on the new Western Union building which is to be built on the northeast corner of Montgomery and Pine streets, according to the plans made by Armitage and Rowell. A. B. McCreery is the owner of the property and will erect a four-story building and basement which will be entirely occupied by the telegraph company.

“The building, of which the above is a picture, will be entirely of Colusa sandstone for the first floor and the other three floors will be of red pressed brick, with Colusa sandstone trimmings. The Associated Press will be in the building. The cost is estimated to be about $50,000 and it will be ready for occupancy in about three months.”

“New Home for Western Union Will Be Erected by A. B. McCreery,” San Francisco Call, October 9, 1906
San Francisco Bay, Alameda County, California – the Bay Bridge Toll Plaza The following excerpt is from “An Island in Time: A mile off the Richmond shoreline, tiny patch of land is host to history and nature – and not many people,” by Katherine Tam, in Contra Costa Times Sunday Edition, May 15, 2011, pp. A1 and A9.

“Remnants of the past remain: rusting quarry equipment, ponds created by quarrying operations, old pilings....From the 1890s to the 1940s, the island was used as a rock quarry where workers harvested graywacke sandstone, some of which was used to build the Bay Bridge Toll Plaza and the Berkeley Aquatic Park.”

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