It seems that, this being the 20th year of my arrival in San Francisco, I'm doing everything I've…read morenot gotten around to, hence my recent tour of the 9th Circuit Court on 7th (between Market and Mission) and now, the Customs House (battery at Jackson). While not quite as lavish as the over the top Courthouse---yet still a bit more posh than even City Hall---this grand facade is easier to access than the courts---provided you walk up before 3pm---more on that at the end.
Designed by a St. Louis firm, to the consternation and indignation of local firms that didn't win, and the chauvinistic boosters that had insisted they should, this structure is yet another permutation of the Beaux Arts style that dominates the Civic Center, yet on a site that has more direct ties to the Gold Rush, old Yerba Buena, and our once thriving port. And it's the third structure here---the first burned down when the City had a penchant for burning; the second---a book end to the Greek Revival Old Mint (on 5th) was torn down in 1905, and they'd only just excavated the basement for the current structure when torrential rains in the winter of 1905-06 filled the hole with water---rather fortuitous given that in April of 1906 we'd have an epic earthquake, followed by a fire of Biblical proportions, when the water came in handy. Unfortunately, a shortage of workers and materiel would delay completion of the building to 1911.
As is typical for the form (Beaux Arts) the building is symmetrical, and emphasis on decoration is dependent on the degree of public focus---such that the first floor has the grandest of lobbies and stairs, the highest ceilings, and the most marble; layers of detail diminish with each floor, and the ceilings get lower, such that the second floor foyer landing has a stair with none of the ornament of the ground level, with oak replacing the marble door frames. On the third (and presumably fourth and fifth floors, which weren't part of the tour) plaster covers more of the walls, wood more of the trim and the light fixtures hang from bare ceilings. Yet it is the third floor that has the director's office, all carved in oak, which the guide tells us often catches higher ups in the Customs Service by surprise as it is, apparently, more opulent than the offices of the bigger upty-ups in DC.
The CIA also occupied a suite on this floor, until one night in 1988. Electricity consumption by the whole building dropped by a third after their sudden departure...
It's a building you walk by often, if you are in the Financial District much, yet it never seems to be open, or for what ever reason, it doesn't draw anyone in (this is the first Yelp of it, apparently). So go in! But before you do---look up, at the lion heads, between the first two floors: They were carved in situ.
Sadly, like the grand Federal Courts, this building has lost its public aspect, the very aspect for which it was designed. This was one of the places you were supposed to take your visiting relatives and friends, to show off the Federal structures designed to impress---impress the visitor and local with the nation's wealth, its emerging power, and the importance of San Francisco to have such structures. Sadly, after 9/11, they have come to seem like tombs of America's liberty. Entry---through airport like security---is restricted to those with official business, and employees and their guests. No one else is allowed free access or to wander about unsupervised. Terrorism you know----prevent any other incidents that might embarrass the government, so it won't have to change the policies that are causing the enmity in the first place. It's sad to think that we waged two World Wars against enemies that could have beat us; and a forty year Cold War against a nuclear armed Soviet Union, though all of which all these structure remained freely open to public access. Yet, one attack by an amorphous enemy and here we are peeing our pants.
One is reminded of Benjamin Franklin's warning: "Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither".
The building, open during business hours, M-F, offers tours as the guide (a longstanding Custom's employee) is available, simply show up before 3pm and inquire at the security apparatus.
