Ferry Building and Embarcadero, circa 1960

Bethlehem Steel Building, under construction, corner of California and Davis. It still stands today.

My office now sits here, at One California

Current location of Embarcadero Center

Current location of Embarcadero Hyatt Regency Hotel

Intersection of California and Drumm Streets, as it looks today

Sacramento Street

Commercial Street

Burgie!

Clay Street

Washington Street

Jackson Street

Current location of Walton Square Park

Former fruit and vegetable wholesalers district; redeveveloped as high-rise apartments in the late 1960s.

Southern Pacific Railroad Company headquarters

Ferry Building and Embarcadero, circa 1960 by Telstar Logistics.

Best viewed large, for lots of flavorful detail.

This is what the San Francisco waterfront looked like shortly after the "Great Wall" Embarcadero freeway was constructed in the late 1950s. My estimate for the date is derived from the fact that the Bethlehem Steel Building (on the corner of California and Davis) is shown here under construction; the building was completed in mid-1960.

The freeway was damaged in the 1989 earthquake, and torn down in 1994. Thankfully.

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Comments

Dill Pixels says:

What's that huge S-P building with three wings?
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

Telstar Logistics says:

djll, that's the old Southern Pacific railroad headquarters. The building still there, but the courtyard is now enclosed and connected to two skyscrapers. You'll see that rooftop S&P sign in old cable car images shot along the California Street line; the sign was oriented to be a prominent landmark at the bottom of the hill.
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

JavaMoose says:

Hey, very cool! I never knew Bethlehem Steel had an office out there!
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

Telstar Logistics says:

Joe, they had an office, and an entire shipyard:

Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

SW Walsh says:

Thanks for posting. The freeway is legendary, but was torn down by the time I moved to the bay area. Now I really get why everyone hated it so much, and I'm thoroughly confounded that it ever got built in the first place.
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

Automatt says:

another view

Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

Dill Pixels says:

@Telstar: I realize now, I've been in that S-P building!
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

Telstar Logistics says:

Here's a good pedestrian-level view of the former Embarcadero Freeway unpleasantness:

Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

jhitzeman says:

My mother worked for SP in the '40s, in that building.
Posted 26 months ago. ( permalink )

David Gallagher says:

I didn't know that the Washington Street exit wasn't there from the beginning.

you've seen this before, but here's that 1966 proposal for a partially underground extension to the Embarcadero Freeway:

Posted 22 months ago. ( permalink )

frangipenny says:

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called 1900 - 1979, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

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Taken in San Francisco, California (map)
Taken with a Casio EX-Z40.
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Taken on January 25, 2006
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Ferry Building and Embarcadero, circa 1960

Comments

Dill Pixels says:

Telstar Logistics says:

JavaMoose says:

Telstar Logistics says:

SW Walsh says:

Automatt says:

Dill Pixels says:

Telstar Logistics says:

jhitzeman says:

David Gallagher says:

frangipenny says:

Would you like to comment?

Telstar Logistics' photostream

Most Interesting, Says You (Set)

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