First Unitarian Church (San Francisco)

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First Unitarian Church
First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Francisco.jpg
Location1187 Franklin Street,
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Coordinates 37°47′07″N122°25′23″W / 37.785411°N 122.423166°W / 37.785411; -122.423166
Built1889
Architect Percy & Hamilton
Designated10 July 1971 [1]
Reference no.40
Location map San Francisco County.png
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Location in California
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Location in United States

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 is nicknamed "Starr King's church". [3]

Contents

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. [4] [5] Thomas Starr King died in 1864 and his sarcophagus still remains is on the grounds of the church. [6]

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. [7] After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the bell tower was rebuilt. [7]

Prominent members associated with the early days of the church in San Francisco were James Otis, [8] 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. [9] Other ministers after Starr King at this church included Horatio Stebbins (1821–1902) serving from 1864 to 1900; [10] Bradford Leavitt (born 1868) serving from 1900 to 1949; [11] Harry C. Meserve (1914–2000), serving from 1949 to 1957; [12] and Harry Barron Scholefield (1914–2003) serving from 1957 to 1975. [13] [14]

See also

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References

  1. "City of San Francisco Designated Landmarks" (PDF). City of San Francisco. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  2. 1 2 "San Francisco Landmark #40: First Unitarian Church". Noehill.com. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  3. Dowd, Katie (2015-10-12). "Even more pre-1870 photos of San Francisco". SFGATE. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  4. Buehrens, John (2021-06-09). "Thomas Starr King: Protector of the Union, and Yosemite". Harvard Magazine . ISSN   0095-2427 . Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  5. Harris, Mark W. (2003). Historical Dictionary of Unitarian Universalism. Scarecrow Press. pp. 290–292. ISBN   9780810865808.
  6. Dowd, Katie (2020-05-26). "Thomas Starr King: The man who 'saved' California — and who California forgot". SFGATE. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  7. 1 2 Michelson, Alan. "1st Unitarian Church #3, Western Addition, San Francisco, CA (1889)". Pacific Coast Architecture Database (PCAD). Built Environments Library, University of Washington.
  8. The Pacific Unitarian, Volumes 29-32. San Francisco, CA. January 1920. p. 166.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. Fifty Years of the First Unitarian Church of San Francisco, October 20, 1850-October 21, 1900. First Unitarian Society of San Francisco. The Society for Christian Work, Murdock Press. 1901. p. 32.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. Mace, Emily. "Stebbins, Horatio (1821–1902)". Harvard Square Library. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  11. Berner, Bertha (1934). Incidents in the Life of Mrs. Leland Stanford. Edwards Brothers, Inc.
  12. "Meserve, Harry C." SFGATE. 2000-12-03. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  13. Lattin, Don (2003-03-12). "Harry Scholefield -- path-breaking Unitarian cleric". SFGATE. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  14. "Scholefield, Harry Barron". SFGATE. 2003-03-09. Retrieved 2022-10-22.