At the corner of Third and Market stands a prominent piece of San Francisco history:
Central Tower at 703 Market Street, formerly known as the Call Building.
Erected in 1897 by entrepreneur and civic leader Claus Spreckels, this building was one of the first skyscrapers in the city and it has witnessed more than a century of San Francisco history and progress.
In its day, the iconic building was often featured in the press, especially in The Call, the newspaper that was its major tenant and namesake. In fact, the 19-story building was specifically designed to tower over and surpass the beauty of the neighboring 10-story building that housed its newspaper rival, The Chronicle. Other first tenants included lawyers, dentists, civil engineers, tailors, dredging companies, jewelers, architects, an insurance company, and a “Physician for the Hair”.
Claus Spreckels designed this marble and limestone edifice for quality, stability, and authenticity. Its concrete foundation, well-braced steel frame, stone facing, and two-foot thick brick walls gave it the seismic integrity to withstand the 1906 earthquake. Although built during a period of corruption and volatile discord between business and labor, the Call Building was privately conceived, designed and constructed in two-and-a-half years. Claus Spreckels insisted on the highest quality and “building local”, and largely used local labor, craftsmen, and materials.
Spreckels’ pride in his project was expressed in its decorative appointments.The entrance featured a triumphal arch, and the allegorical figures of Commerce, Manufacturing, Agriculture, Science, and Art with female figures of Victory blowing horns. Other noteworthy features included distinctive baroque dome encrusted with terra cotta ornamentation, elegant lobby rotunda set in a three-story granite pedestal, Corinthian columns, mosaic tiles, decorative rosebud friezes, arched windows, and bronze door handles. Reaching far into the sky, this building helped further early San Francisco’s aspiration to be the New York of the West Coast. At 315 feet, the Call Building was the tallest office building west of Chicago.
A second building, constructed 300 feet away on Stevenson Street, housed the steam heat boilers, electric engines for lighting, and pumps for the artesian wells, as well as the editorial and art departments of The Call. The Stevenson Annex, also known as the Power House, connected to the Call Building via a tunnel and breathed light and life into the skyscraper.