Convention 2027 Fun Facts

As noted above, we will be staying at the Westin St. Francis Hotel, the only hotel on Union Square in downtown San Francisco!

I thought you may like to hear some interesting facts about this historical hotel.
More tidbits of information will be in future newsletters…

~ The St. Francis, originally a two-wing hotel, opened its doors on March 21, 1904 and is located on Powell St. at the corner of Geary St. facing Union Square.

~ The hotel was begun by the trustees of the estate of Charles Crocker, one of the “Big Four” railroad magnates who had built the western portion of the transcontinental railway. It was built as an investment for Crocker’s two young grandchildren. It was originally going to be called The Crocker Hotel but took the name of one of the earliest California Gold Rush hotels, the St. Francis.

~ The hotel survived the Great Earthquake of 1906 with no structural damage but subsequently, the earthquake began a series of fires, which started around the waterfront and began to sweep west across the city. Because the earthquake broke many of the city’s water mains, firefighters were unable to contain the fires and unfortunately the St. Francis was consumed by fire and gutted.

~ Within forty days of the inferno, a temporary 110 room hotel was built around the Dewey Monument in Union Square as the St. Francis continued to be the focal point of The City.

~ The St. Francis Hotel reopened, refurbished, in late 1907 with 450 guestrooms.

~ A third wing was opened in 1908 and further additions followed, making the St. Francis the largest hotel on the Pacific Coast.

~ A fourth wing was added in 1915 to the Landmark Building.

~ The original structure, a twelve-story building is known today as the Landmark Building. The cost to build was $2.5 million, equivalent to a little less than $100 million in today’s dollars. A new 32-story addition to the hotel was constructed in 1970 known as the Tower Building. The original banquet and ballroom known as the old Mural Room was removed to build the Tower comprising of 566 rooms of which 35 are suites. This tower has outside the building glass elevators allowing panoramic views of San Francisco. The Landmark Building has a total of 629 rooms with 24 being suites. Combined, the hotel has 1,195 rooms including suites.