Rincon Annex
Why it's listed
Rincon Annex is a post office building on Mission Street in San Francisco, built between 1939 and 1940 to a design by Gilbert S. Underwood. Its reinforced concrete frame is trimmed with marble and expressed on the main facade as eight colossal piers, with leaping dolphins decorating the spandrels between tall windows. Aluminum panels, clocks, signs and lettering inside follow the same Streamlined Moderne approach. The building covers about 385,000 square feet, and its columns are hollow to carry ventilation ducts through all three floors. The lobby holds Anton Refregier's twenty-seven murals of California history, commissioned in 1941 as the largest mural series the government had awarded, covering a lobby frieze about four hundred feet long. The murals were praised for treating California's story as a wider account of human progress. Because the interior survives intact from construction, both the interior and exterior were put forward for listing despite the building's age.
Significance in brief: The nomination calls it one of the finest large public buildings in San Francisco in the Streamlined Moderne style, with an interior intact from construction. It also holds Anton Refregier's 27-panel mural series on California history, described as the largest mural series awarded by the government at the time and a major WPA-era artistic achievement. It was submitted even though it was not yet fifty years old.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 79000537, listed November 16, 1979. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 101--199 Mission St., San Francisco |
|---|---|
| County | San Francisco |
| Listed | November 16, 1979 |
| Reference number | 79000537 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1939-1940 |
| Architect / builder | Gilbert S. Underwood (architect); George A. Fuller Construction company (builder) |
| Architectural style | Streamlined Moderne |
| Areas of significance | Art, Architecture |
| Level of significance | National |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Occupied and in use as a postal facility; the form states the postal operation is expected to move to a one-story facility in the near future. |
| Acreage | 1.9 |
| Coordinates | 37.79250, -122.39300 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary: it recognises significance and does not restrict what a private owner may do without federal money or permits. It unlocks the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit for income-producing buildings, state credits in many states, and Section 106 review when federal agencies are involved. See what listing means in practice.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 79000537.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q1877405
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.