First Unitarian Church (San Francisco)
Historic church building in San Francisco
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The First Unitarian Church is a church structure built in 1889 and is located at 1187 Franklin Street at Geary Street in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood, San Francisco, California.[2] It is also known the First Unitarian Universalist Church and First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco, and is nicknamed "Starr King's church".[3][4]
| First Unitarian Church | |
|---|---|
| |
| 37.785411°N 122.423166°W | |
| Location | 1187 Franklin Street, San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| History | |
| Built | 1889 |
| Site notes | |
| Architect | Percy & Hamilton |
| Designated | 10 July 1971[1] |
| Reference no. | 40 |
History
The Unitarians built their first San Francisco Church in 1853 at 805 Stockton Street. When the congregation outgrew the first building within a decade, a new church was built on Union Square at 133 Geary Street, under clergyman Thomas Starr King, who was instrumental in advocating for California to join the Union.[5][6] Thomas Starr King died in 1864 and his sarcophagus still remains is on the grounds of the church.[7]
In 1889, the church was moved to 1187 Franklin Street, its current location. The building was designed by architects Percy & Hamilton in the Richardson Romanesque-style.[8] After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the bell tower was rebuilt.[8]
Prominent members associated with the early days of the church in San Francisco were James Otis,[9] Leland Stanford, Bret Harte, Andrew Smith Hallidie, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.[2] Later members of the congregation included Julia Ward Howe and Edward Everett Hale.[10] Other ministers after Starr King at this church included Horatio Stebbins (1821–1902) serving from 1864 to 1900;[11] Bradford Leavitt (born 1868) serving from 1900 to 1949;[12] Harry C. Meserve (1914–2000), serving from 1949 to 1957;[13] and Harry Barron Scholefield (1914–2003) serving from 1957 to 1975.[14][15]