Most of the Port’s facilities were constructed between 1878 and 1945 and are listed in the National Register of Historic Places in one of three of the Port’s historic districts. The resources are significant in the areas of engineering, transportation, maritime commerce, labor, planning and development, as well as industry for steel ship fabrication and repair. Recently, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the Embarcadero Historic District one of the 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.
Port historic resources range in type from the architectural landmark Ferry Building and the Neo-Classical piers on the Northeastern Waterfront, to the largely invisible three-mile long seawall that reshaped the San Francisco waterfront in the 1800’s. The Port’s historical resources also include industrial relics like the Pier 84 Copra Crane which is significant because of its association with labor and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). While not part of a historic district, the Fish Alley of Fisherman's Wharf includes several architecturally significant structures.
Port stewardship of waterfront historic resources has resulted in the creation of three National Register historic districts that comprise the majority of the Port’s properties:
• Central Embarcadero Piers Historic District, Piers 1-5
• Embarcadero Historic District, Piers 45 to 48 (designated May 12, 2006)
• Union Iron Works Historic District, Pier 70 area (designated April 17, 2014)
The Central Embarcadero Piers Historic District (Piers 1-5) was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 in response to a recommendation of the State Historical Resources Commission that the Port pursue historic district designation and to allow the rehabilitation of these piers to qualify for Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credits. This district is located within and was the precursor to the Embarcadero Historic District that was listed on the National Register in 2006.
The Embarcadero Historic District encompasses three miles of waterfront including the seawall, bulkhead wharf, pier and bulkhead buildings from Pier 45 in the north to Pier 48 at China Basin. The district’s period of significance is 1878 to 1945 and was created in part to respond to the Bay Conservation and Development Commission’s (BCDC) San Francisco Waterfront Special Area Plan, San Francisco’s Historic Preservation community and their advocacy for the formal recognition and preservation of the historic waterfront, as well as the Port’s interest in qualifying waterfront rehabilitation projects for Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credits.
The Union Iron Works Historic District at Pier 70 encompasses the 68 acre former Union Iron Works/Bethlehem Steel Shipyard between Mariposa, Illinois and 22nd Streets and is a part of the Central Waterfront, Dogpatch/Potrero Hill neighborhoods. The district’s period of significance is 1884 to 1945 and includes numerous contributing industrial resources that formed the physical plant of the shipyard. A 14 acre portion of the former ship yard is leased to BAE Systems and continues to operate as a ship repair yard as one of three operating drydocks on the west coast. Like the Embarcadero Historic District the creation of this district satisfied a number of purposes including the development of a Pier 70 Preferred Master Plan that established Port policies for the rehabilitation of many of the site’s numerous historic resources utilizing Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credits, new infill development on the site’s large vacant areas, as well as the retention of the on-going ship repair operations.
Because the majority of these resources are no-longer needed for maritime purposes the Port and its private development partners have begun adapting them to support new uses. More notable examples of this include the Ferry Building and the Exploratorium at Piers 15-17. To help guide this transformation process the Port has adopted historic preservation and urban design policies that are used in the review of Port and tenant projects along the waterfront to ensure that these properties are properly managed and impacts on historic resources minimized or avoided.
The Port’s Waterfront Land Use Plan and Design and Access Element established policies in 1997 to guide the Port in its repurposing of its maritime industrial facilities and to reconnect the city to its waterfront after the removal of the earthquake damaged Embarcadero Freeway in 1990 The Port’s Waterfront Land Use Plan and Design and Access Element contain preservation policies and design criteria that are intended to guide Port and tenant initiated projects to make them sensitive to historic resources and consistent with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties (Secretary’s Standards) while supporting continued Port operations and the on-going integration of visual and public access along the waterfront.
The Port’s utilizes the Secretary’s Standards to review projects involving historic resources. Port projects are typically reviewed for consistency with 10 Rehabilitation Standards which can be viewed on the Port’s website:
The Port has integrated the Secretary’s Standards into its environmental review and project permitting processes. One of the ways that this has been accomplished is through the use of public/private partnerships that qualify for Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credits and are certified by the National Park Service (NPS) as consistent with the Secretary’s Standards.
The Port has also adopted Sign Policies with provisions tailored to its historic pier facilities and that incorporate the Port’s best preservation practices as well as precedents set by NPS for rehabilitation projects approved within the Embarcadero Historic District. The Port Signage Policy can be viewed on the Port’s website.
The Port also adopted two measures at the time of the designation of the Embarcadero Historic District that specifically address the Secretary’s Standards. These measures include the Port’s Historic Preservation Review Guidelines for Pier and Bulkhead Wharf Substructures that are based on the principles of the Secretary’s Standards. The Guidelines also specifically recognize the Port’s on-going routine maintenance and repair as consistent with the Secretary’s Standards. Likewise, Port Commission Resolution 04-89 adopted in 2006 requires all projects within the Embarcadero Historic District be consistent with the Secretary’s Standards.
The Port has also prepared a Pier 70 Preferred Master Plan for the entire 68 acre former shipyard property that comprises the Union Iron Works Historic District. The Plan contains a preservation strategy that calls for the rehabilitation of many of the district’s historic resources consistent with the Secretary’s Standards and includes – Infill Development Design Criteria that are intended to make new construction compatible with the district and consistent with the Secretary’s Standards.
Based on the adopted plans and policies Port staff reviews all projects and permits involving historic resources for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and consistency with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties (Secretary’s Standards). Port staff has experience working on a variety of large and small projects and has developed best practices for the treatment of pier and bulkhead facilities and whenever possible conducts preliminary review for most projects while they are at a conceptual level of design.
The level and type of historic preservation and urban design review each Port project undergoes varies by project type. Most of the Port’s significant rehabilitation projects received Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credits and were reviewed for consistency with the Secretary’s Standards for Rehabilitation by NPS. Routine Port maintenance and small tenant alteration projects are generally reviewed by Port staff for consistency with the Secretary’s Standards and in most instances do not require review by other regulatory bodies or Port advisory groups. Historic preservation is incorporated into most projects so that they are sensitive in approach and work out the significant design issues in an effort to minimize further revision of the project design when the project reaches the Port Building permit review stage. Some Port projects raise important policy or compliance issues and may warrant review by the Port’s Design Review Committee. The Design Committee is interdisciplinary and comprised of Port planning, engineering, building inspection, architecture/accessibility, urban design and historic preservation staff. The committee reviews projects and develops recommendations on how best to integrate multiple Port policies, design criteria and regulatory requirements into project designs.
Likewise, because the Port is its own permitting authority and not subject to the City’s historic preservation ordinance, Article 10 of the City Planning Code the Port routinely provides the City’s Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) with opportunities to review and comment on the Port’s more significant projects involving historic resources and designated landmark properties.
Secretary of the Interior's Rehabilitation Standards
For questions or to arrange for a preliminary project review, please contact Mark Paez, historic preservation staff, at mark.paez@sfport.com or (415) 705-8674.