Second and Howard Streets District

This group of 22 properties lies in San Francisco's South of Market area, along Second Street, part of Howard Street, and the alleys of Natoma and Minna out to New Montgomery Street. Nineteen buildings contribute to the district. All were built between 1906 and 1912, during the rebuilding that followed the 1906 earthquake and fire. They are three to seven stories tall and built of masonry, about half in brick, two in terra cotta and the rest in stucco. Their Commercial Style design uses restrained Renaissance-Baroque ornament, mostly at the cornices. The area served the construction industry, and a 1910 directory lists plumbing suppliers, electrical firms, a terra cotta works, engineers, printers and chemists. Ground floors have often been altered for shops, while upper floors were typically lofts. The district was recognized for its architecture and for the consistent scale and character that survive, with works by architects such as the Reid Brothers and John Cotter Pelton. Two altered buildings and a vacant lot do not contribute.