Description

Essentials about the San Francisco Ferry Building in brief

The Ferry Building is one of San Francisco’s most famous and certainly most beautiful buildings. Located at the end of Market Street, the city’s largest thoroughfare, on the coastal boulevard The Embarcadero, the Ferry Building functions as both a ferry terminal, office building and shopping arcade.

The San Francisco Ferry Building

The present building was designed by architect A. Page Brown in the Beaux Arts style and was built between 1892 and 1989. The most prominent part of the building is the tower, which is architecturally modeled on the Giralda of Seville Cathedral in Spain from the 12th century. The tower houses a large clock, which can already be seen from Market Street. During the day, the tower clock plays part of the famous Westminster chime, which can also be heard from Big Ben in London, every full and half hour.

The history of the San Francisco Ferry Building

Amazingly, the Ferry Building survived both the Great 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, which connected the city to the north and east shores of San Francisco Bay in the 1930s, the Ferry Building was the world’s second largest transshipment point after Charing Cross Station in London. Countless ferries landed here to ferry commuters from the east side of the Bay to downtown San Francisco.

When a rail line also connected the city to the east shore of San Francisco Bay beginning in 1939, passenger ferry use declined noticeably. Although the Ferry Building with its tower clock remained a popular part of the San Francisco skyline, the interior of the building fell into disrepair during the second half of the twentieth century.

Over the years, the ticket office and waiting room areas were converted into office space. What was once a spacious, public part of the building became a narrow, dark hallway that travelers had to pass through on their way to the piers. In 2004, the building reopened with upscale gourmet stores and offices, and has since served as a ferry terminal once again. The restoration took many years, with particular emphasis on recreating the atmosphere of the 1898 building.

The farmers market at the San Francisco Ferry Building

By the way, if you don’t plan on taking the ferry, you still have a good reason to come to the Ferry Building, because San Francisco’s largest farmers’ market is held here on Tuesdays and Saturdays (and Thursday evenings in the summer) throughout the year. Here, amateur chefs and gourmets gather to buy locally sourced oysters, locally roasted coffee, and freshly baked cupcakes, all while drinking a craft beer from the city.

Website

ferrybuildingmarketplace.com

Opening hours

Admission fees

None.

Address

Getting there

By public transport:

BART lines Dublin/Pleasanton – Daly City, Pittsburg/Bay Point – SFIA/Millbrae, Richmond – Daly City/Millbrae and Warm Springs/South Fremont – Daly City: Stop Embarcadero

MUNI lines J, K, L, M, N and T: Stop Embarcadero

Light rail: Stop The Embarcadero & Ferry Building

Bus lines 2, 6, 21, 31, K-OWL, L-OWL, M-OWL, N-OWL and T-OWL: Stop Steuart St & Market St

Bus lines 7X, 9, 14, 14R, 14X, M-OWL, N-OWL and T-OWL: Stop Market St & Steuart St

By car:

The nearest parking facilities are the Golden Gateway Garage, the ACE Parking Lot at Embarcadero & Washington and Pier 3 along Northbound Embarcadero.