Ferry Building

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ferry Building

The Ferry Building is a terminal for ferries to the San Francisco Bay crossing, and a shopping center , located on the road The Embarcadero in San Francisco in California is. There is a large clock in the tower of the building , which can be seen from Market Street , one of the city's main thoroughfares. During the day, the tower clock plays part of the Westminster chime every full and half hour . Architecturally the tower is Giralda of Seville Cathedral in Spain from the 12th century modeled.

architecture

The current structure was designed by local architect A. Page Brown and replaced a wooden building when it opened in 1898. It survived both the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 almost unscathed. Until the completion of the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge in the 1930s, it was the second largest transshipment point in the world after Charing Cross Station in London . Southern Pacific and Key System ferries landed here to take commuters from the East Bay to San Francisco. Until 1942 there was also a large footbridge in front of the Ferry Building over The Embarcadero.

history

When, after the bridges were built in 1939, new Key System trains were able to connect the East Bay to the Transbay Terminal , the use of passenger ferries fell noticeably. Although the Ferry Building, with its clock tower, remained a popular part of the San Francisco skyline, the interior of the building fell into disrepair in the second half of the twentieth century.

Over the years, the ticket offices and waiting rooms have been converted into offices. The formerly spacious, public part of the building became a narrow, dark hallway that travelers had to cross on their way to the piers. Passengers had to wait on outside benches and the ticket booths were moved to the piers.

renovation

In 2004, the building was reopened with upscale gourmet shops and offices and has since served as a ferry terminal again. The restoration took many years, with particular emphasis on restoring the atmosphere of the building from 1898. San Francisco's largest farmers market is held here on Tuesdays and Saturdays year round, and Thursday evenings in summer.

Ferry connections

Public transport

The main line of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system runs directly under the building. The port area on the eastern side is used as a transfer point from the Transbay Tube to the Market Street Subway . The Embarcadero Station subway stop, just one block from the terminal, is used by both Bay Area Rapid Transit and Muni Metro . Trains run to the city, East Bay, and the peninsula from here .

See also

Web links

Commons : Ferry Building  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Walt Vielbaum, Philip Hoffman, Grant Ute, Robert Townley: San Francisco's Market Street Railway. Charleston SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-2967-7 , page 31.

Coordinates: 37 ° 47 '43.8 "  N , 122 ° 23' 37.3"  W.