Sansome St
San Francisco, CA, USA

Block bounded by Lombard, Sansome, and the Embarcadero

Statement of Significance:

The Bel tine roundhouse complex, built in 1913/1914, is significant for its historic association with the Beltine Railroad system that the linked San Francisco piers and industrial areas with the railroad systems of the country. This complex is one of the few remaining elements of the Beltline Railroad system and is the only roundhouse remaining in San Francisco. The property has been designated City and County of San Francisco Landmark #114. The building also derives its significance from its engineering and architecture, specifically the use of reinforced concrete columns, and its exposed skeleton frame as part of its industrial design expression. This building represents an innovative approach to the use of reinforced monolithic concrete and reinforced concrete columns.

Historical Significance
A beltline railroad, linking San Francisco's piers and industrial areas with the railroad system of the country, was first proposed in 1873, but actual construction did not take place until 1890.

The spurs for the construction of a beltline system were the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 and the construction of the continuous seawall around the San Francisco waterfront which provided new land for the peripheral or belt railroad. The first section of the seawall was completed at what is now Fisherman's Wharf in 1880; the next sections, to Pacific Street, by 1886.

The building of the continuous seawall created new, filled land equivalent to more than thirty 50 Vara lots between Powell and Pacific Streets, but under the law this new land could be used only for parks, not for commercial purposes. It wasn't until 1890 that an amendment was passed which allowed the Harbor Commission to use these seawall lots for commercial purposes such as switch yards, warehouses, and railroad tracks.
The first section of the Beltline Railroad was constructed in 1890. It started from the freight ferry slip at the foot of Lombard Street, and ran north to Powell and south to Pacific Street, a total length of about a mile. This first railroad consisted of three tracks, to handle both standard and narrow-gauge cars. One segment of this three-rail track can still be seen where Front Street meets Commerce, between Green and Union Streets, the use of these tracks and the Lombard Street ferry slips was assigned to the South Pacific Coast Railway Company (of the Southern Pacific Company) and the San Francisco and North Pacific Company (which operated the narrow-gauge cars). The early rails were light, laid on ties without ballast, and with planking between the rails. In the first seven years, approximately 99,000 cars were switched with one locomotive which, with one flat and one hand car, comprised the total rolling stock. For some years the Beltline operated at a loss; by 1892, the total revenue was but $17,480.

Business increased by 173% between 1887 and 1900 however. New and heavier rails were laid on a regular paved roadway in 1907. But the system was still handicapped by the fact that it was not continuous; a gap between the northern and southern portions still existed in front of the Ferry Building. This gap wasn't bridged until 1912—at which time revenues from the Beltline jumped immediately.

The earthquake and fire of 1906 led not only to the reconstruction of large parts of the city, but to a greatly improved waterfront, sparked by the San Francisco Harbor Improvement Act of 1909 with a $9 million appropriation. By the Biennial Report for the years ending June 30, 1914, the Harbor Commission was able to boast that "San Francisco undoubtedly now has the most complete harbor beltline railroad switching system in the world.,. It is used to connect up, for the switching of freight cars, the various piers, the yards of other railroads, and private warehouses and industries generally...even such a great seaport as New York has no harbor belt line.

A roundhouse was built to handle the increased freight activity; work was completed on April 30, 1914. The Biennial Report for the period ending June 30, 1914 stated; —"A reinforced concrete Engine House containing five stalls was erected on Seawall Lot 8, bounded by Lombard and Sansome Streets and the Embarcadero. This building is provided with a drop pit, machine shop, blacksmith shop, and store room; the engine house proper and the machine shop are floored with wooden blocks on a concrete base, the store room with concrete and the blacksmith shop with cinders. It is expected that this Engine House will suffice for the needs of the belt railroad for several years and when additional stalls are required another engine house should be built on the southern division."

In 1914 a small reinforced concrete building was built in the railyard on the corner of Lombard and the Embarcadero; this became a supply station. In January of 1919 an oil tank and sand house (no longer there) were built alongside the southern back of the roundhouse, and by the Biennial Report for the period ending June 30, 1928, "a change room, in which are installed toilets, showers and lockers for the shop and trainmen" had been built of wood in the railroad yard. Two other buildings, used for storage, abutting the change room on the east and extending along Lombard Street to Sansome, were built of wood in 1927 and 1928.

In 1912 what the Biennial Report referred to as the "necessary link" was completed from "Folsom to Washington Street, and crossing in front of the Ferry Building...to connect the north and south divisions of the belt railroad." The construction of this "necessary link" was immediately profitable. The Biennial Report for the period ending June 30, 1916, reported that "The rapid extension of the beltline and the building of the connecting link...have borne fruit in good measure...the receipts of the biennial period just ended, July 1, 1916, exceed those of the preceding biennial period by 45.7 percent, and exceed those of the biennial period ending July 1, 1912, by 78.5 percent."

The Beltline Railroad was extended through the Fort Mason tunnel to Beach Street for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915, and in June 1917 the line was extended, "on request of the War Department," to the Presidio. In 1923, Harbor Commissioner Edward Morphy noted that the beltline by then consisted for 54 miles of tracks and eight locomotives. Morphy wrote: "One of San Francisco's unique and most important features today, and one that distinguishes it from practically every other great port on the western continent is the efficiency of its Belt Railroad, so called, whereby every pier and practically every berth alongside is connected directly with the railway systems of America."

The tracks along the Embarcadero still exist, although operation of the rail system is greatly reduced by the changing uses of the waterfront.

Engineering & Architectural Significance
Engineering & Architectural Significance The roundhouse building (1913) was built, with the absence of ornamentation, allowing the structural skeleton to remain exposed. The window spandrel and lintel items were recessed between the columns which became features of future design styles of the twentieth century.

During this era, some utilitarian buildings were being designed and build in San Francisco utilizing design features found in the various styles of the era. The buildings were basically flat wall structures, with the openings piercing the walls and no expression of the internal structural system. Architectural features such as decorative cornices, stepped or decorated parapets, arched windows, etc., effecting more classic features were often the design patterns being used on these utilitarian buildings. Such an example was the San Francisco pumping station #2 built in 1912 of concrete in the Mission style. (Carole Rifkind, "A Field Guide to American Architecture", illustration #449). This was also true with the number of bulkhead buildings (1910-1920) built along the Embarcadero as facades for the docks. This was the era when the waterfront was greatly improved for the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition.

The brick buildings built along the waterfront were decorated with dentils, shaped and decorated parapets and arched openings.
"This first decade of the twentieth-century saw enthusiastic use of and experimentation with concrete" (Carole Rifkind "A Field Guide to American Architecture", pp. 293 1900-1940 Age of Industry).