Uptown Tenderloin Historic District

Covering all or part of 33 blocks west of Market Street in San Francisco, this district is a dense neighborhood of 3- to 7-story hotels, apartments and apartment-hotels. Nearly all of it was built between the 1906 earthquake and fire and the early 1930s. After the disaster destroyed the area's wood houses and flats, new fire-limit rules required brick or reinforced-concrete exterior walls, which raised building costs and encouraged larger, higher-income buildings. A limited number of architects, builders and clients produced a harmonious streetscape, with buildings rising straight from the sidewalk and decorated with galvanized iron, terra cotta, and brick. Most ornament reflects an eclectic Beaux Arts approach, while some buildings follow Tudor, Spanish Colonial or Italian Renaissance revival styles. Churches, stores, garages, a YMCA complex, a bathhouse, union halls and film exchanges are mixed among the residences. The district was recognized for its social history and architecture, and it keeps a high degree of integrity for the period 1906-1931. Three of its buildings were already individually listed.