{"nrhp_refnum":"78000756","name":"Ferry Station Post Office Building","other_names":["Agriculture Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Embarcadero at Mission St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Francisco","county":"San Francisco","state":"CA","lat":37.79403012000006,"lon":-122.39207410299997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-12-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Communications"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick government building on the Embarcadero at the foot of Mission Street in San Francisco, designed in 1914 as the Ferry Station Post Office and built in 1915; it is now known as the Agriculture Building.","why_significant":"The building served as San Francisco's central postal facility from 1915 until 1925, fulfilling a long-planned idea of centralizing mail handling at the waterfront. It is also considered a fine example of early 20th century Mediterranean style government architecture, and one of the best such designs by the State for the Harbor Commission.","narrative":"Located on the Embarcadero at the foot of Mission Street in San Francisco, this two-story steel-frame building was designed in 1914 as the Ferry Station Post Office and completed in 1915. A.A. Pyle of the State Department of Engineering was the designer, and Teichert and Ambrose began construction. Walls are red pressed brick laid in Flemish bond, set on a granite base with artificial stone trim and a copper cornice under a tile hip roof. A rear second-story addition followed in 1918. Until the Post Office moved to larger quarters in 1925, it was the central postal facility for the city, realizing a waterfront centralization plan first announced in 1896. The Southern Pacific and later the Department of Agriculture occupied it, and the marquees, galleries and most interior spaces were lost. Its Mediterranean style and fine detailing make it one of the best waterfront designs the State produced for the Harbor Commission.","period_of_significance":"1915","architect_builder":"A.A. Pyle, State Department of Engineering (designer); R.T. Alden (structural renderings); Teichert and Ambrose (construction)","architectural_style":"Mediterranean Style","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied; the form lists present use as agriculture and the interior has been cut up into offices, with only the central stair hall remaining from the original interior.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:32.249558-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/78000756.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78000756/bc099e5037-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78000756/bc099e5037-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sanfranman59","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ferry_Station_Post_Office_(San_Francisco).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Sanfranman59</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ferry_Station_Post_Office_(San_Francisco).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861103","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferry_Station_Post_Office_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q38251704"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-francisco/ferry-station-post-office-building-78000756/"}