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Overview

The size of San Francisco's county/municipal government burgeoned after the Civil War, and it was in 1871 that a large competition was staged to replace this building with a larger and grander civic monument.

Building History

The Jenny Lind Theatre opened on 10/04/1851, with a poetry reading by Mrs. E. Woodward. (See

In 1883, portions of the City Hall #3 remained in use. The Boards of the Police and Fire Commissioners still operated in offices in this City Hall, as did the Sheriff's Department.

Building Notes

In 1863, the Board of Supervisors had its offices on the City Hall's second floor, as did the Board of Equalization. The Board of Delegates, San Francisco Fire Department had offices on the third, as did the Board of Fire Wardens. (See San Francisco City Directory, 1863, p. 71.)

Alteration

In late 1852, the City and County of San Francisco purchased the impressive theatre for use as its new governmental office building. The previous City Hall, the city's first, in the former Graham House Hotel, burned on 06/22/1851. According to the web site Found SF.org: "The 'Jenny Lind' did not long remain a theatre. The following year it was purchased by the town for a City Hall for the enormous sum of two hundred thousand dollars. The external stone walls were allowed to stand, but the whole interior was removed and fitted up anew for the special purposes to which it was meant to be applied. (See Frank Soule, et al., Annals of San Francisco, 1855,"The Jenny Lind Swindle, 1852," [New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1855], pl. 63.)

PCAD id: 20494