Baker and Hamilton Building
Baker and Hamilton Building is located in San Francisco County
Baker and Hamilton Building
Baker and Hamilton Building is located in California
Baker and Hamilton Building
Baker and Hamilton Building is located in the United States
Baker and Hamilton Building
Location601 Townsend Street, San Francisco, California, U.S.
Coordinates37°46′17″N 122°24′7″W / 37.77139°N 122.40194°W / 37.77139; -122.40194
Area1.5 acres (0.61 ha)
Built1905 (1905)
ArchitectSutton, Albert; Weeks, Charles Peter
Architectural styleEarly Commercial
NRHP reference No.05000001[1]
SFDL No.193
CHISL No.N2273
Significant dates
Added to NRHPFebruary 9, 2005
Designated SFDLApril 6, 1989[2]
Designated CHISLFebruary 9, 2005[3]

The Baker and Hamilton Building, also known as Pacific Hardware and Steel Company Building and Baker, Hamilton and Pacific Company, is a historic office building and former commercial building built in 1905,[4] and located in South of Market at 601 Townsend Street in San Francisco, California.

The Baker and Hamilton Building listed as a San Francisco Designated Landmark since April 6, 1989;[5] listed as a California Historic Landmark since February 9, 2005;[3] and listed on the National Register of Historic Places since February 9, 2005.

Architecture

The Townsend building location was built in 1905 for the Pacific Hardware and Steel Company, and was designed by architects Charles Peter Weeks (1870–1928) and Albert Sutton (1867–1923).[6] The building is 150,000 sq. ft. in floor area.[6] During the 1906 San Francisco earthquake the Townsend building survived.[6]

History

The Baker & Hamilton sign is visible from the corner of 7th Street and King Street
The Baker & Hamilton sign is visible from the corner of 7th Street and King Street

In 1918, Pacific Hardware and Steel Company merged with the Baker and Hamilton Company.[6] The Baker and Hamilton was founded as a California Gold Rush-era mining supply and hardware store company, by Livingston Low Baker and Robert Muirhead Hamilton in Mormon Island.[7] They grew in popularity in Sacramento, because of the proximity to mines. The company had a second store location at Front and California Street in San Francisco, active from 1867 until 1906, which was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake.[7]

The Townsend building was converted in the year 2000 into office space for Organic, Inc. During the dot-com downturn space went unused, until Macromedia in 2005; and then Adobe Systems moved in during 2007[8] after buying Macromedia.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Baker and Hamilton Building.
  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ "City of San Francisco Designated Landmarks" (PDF). City of San Francisco. Retrieved 2022-11-11.
  3. ^ a b "Baker and Hamilton". CA State Parks. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  4. ^ "Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects - The Baker & Hamilton Building". Archived from the original on 2015-02-14. Retrieved 2015-02-14.
  5. ^ "San Francisco Landmark #193: Baker and Hamilton". noehill.com. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  6. ^ a b c d Michelson, Alan. "Pacific Hardware and Steel Company Building, SoMa, San Francisco, CA". Pacific Coast Architecture Database (PCAD). Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  7. ^ a b Janin, Henry Covington (1939). The History of Baker, Hamilton & Pacific Company.
  8. ^ JD on EP: Baker-Hamilton Building
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