Pacific Telephone Building (1925)

This and the Russ Building are the best examples of Art Deco skyscrapers in the city. This one has a soaring sculpted quality that is especially evident when seen at a distance. Its tall, arched, and elaborately decorated entry bay containes a perforated golden grille that is a treasure. The building is set on a base of granite, but the upper part is clad entirely of terra-cotta glazed to resemble granite. The vertical piers are variously rounded and chamfered, imparting a scalloped quality. The ornament, especially the torch-like sculptures in the upper stories, is quite original and contributes to the building's soaring effect.

140 New Montgomery Street

Miller and Pflueger, architects (with A.A. Cantin)

Pacific Coast Stock Exchange (1929)

This was built in 1915 as the U.S. Subtreasury Building, which moved here from 608 Commercial. When Miller and Pflueger reworked it for the Stock Exchange in 1930, they kept the Doric colonade but slightly raised the height of the corners where the fine sculptural groups by Ralph Stackpole are standing. The adjoining Art Deco-style Stock Exchange Club (now the City Club) on Sansome Street was an addition. Its lobby of red and green Italian marbles is spectacular, and the clubrooms contain artwork by Diego Rivera, Robert Boardman Howard, and Michael Goodman.

301 Pine Street and 155 Sansome Street

Miller and Pflueger, architects

San Francisco Mining Exchange (1923)

A small terra-cotta temple front graces the second oldest exchange - after New York's-in the United States.


San Francisco Mining Exchange (1923)
MIller and Pflueger