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Overview

This was the Harbor View location of the venerable Fulton Iron Works, founded in 1855. Prior to this, all three earlier locations had been located either in the Financial District or South of Market Street. This foundry location, on the waterfront, suffered two serious fires in 1900 and 1902, that damaged ships being worked on by the works and buildings in the complex. The second fire caused an explosion that killed 11 men. A fire also leveled the Fulton Iron Works #3 at its 213 Fremont Street address in 1892.

Building History

In 1900, James Spiers served as the President of the Fulton Iron works, with D.B. Hinckley, its vice-president and Lionel Heynemann, the secretary. It had its factory in San Francisco's Harbor View neighborhood (now known as the Marina District) at Lewis and Broderick Streets, but its main office was located at 15 1st Street. (See San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1900, p. 682.) It appears that the Fulton Iron Works #4 may have discontinued operations after the 1906 Earthquake. The firm's factory was listed under "Boilers" in the San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1905, (p. 2026), but itwas not listed in the San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1907, (p. 1770), although it did maintain an office at 509 Market Street,.By 1910, again no factory address was listed, but it had moved its office to the Mills Building at Bush and Montgomery Streets. (See San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1910, p. 679.) It is possible that the financial damages caused by the Progresso accident of 1902 and the earthquake put the factory complex out of business.

Alteration

A fire damaged portions of the Fulton Iron Works #4 on the evening of 08/18/1900. The San Francisco Callreported the following day: "The planing mills and molders' supply department of the Fulton Iron Works and a fish packing establishment belonging to Andrew Drymann near Harbor View, were destroyed by fire last evening. That the main buildings of the iron works' plant did not become food for the flames was due principally to a strong south wind, which turned the course of the flames bayward. A tug-boat in course of construction for the Merchants' and Shipowners' Tugboat Association was burned and one side of the new steamer Santa Barbara, also under construction, was slightly scorched. The fire originated in the boiler-room of the planing mills and was not discovered until it had gained considerable headway/ The total loss will approximate $30,000." (See "Mills and Boat Burned at Fulton Iron Works," San Francisco Call, vol. 87, no. 80, 08/19/1900, p. 28.) The fire was first detected at 7:00 p.m. on 08/18/1900, but fire-fighting efforts were hampered by the lack of near-by fire hydrants.

A more serious fire occurred on 12/03/1902 aboard the steamship Progresso. Approximately forty employees of the Fulton Iron Works were in the process of retrofitting the boilers of the Progresso to burn fuel oil rather than coal. About 20 Progresso crew members performed ship-maintenance chores on board when the accident occurred. (See GenDisasters.com, "San Francisco, CA Steamer PROGRESO [sic] Explosion, Dec 1902," information obtained from The Daily Times [New Brunswick, NJ],, 12/04/1902, accessed 01/24/2019.) An employee drilled a hole in one of the new fuel tanks containing about 300-400 gallons of oil and then proceeeded to use a candle to light his work. The flame ignited fumes emanating from the tanks, causing a series of explosions that killed 14 crew members of the Progresso still on board and employees of the Fulton Iron Works. Thirteen others were injured in the explosion. Damage to the Fulton Iron Works and it wharf cost more than $20,000. The destroyed Progresso had a value of $175,000.

Two court cases waged over financial liability resulting from the explosion were settled on 11/21/1904 and 03/19/1906. The first ruled the Michigan Steamship Company, the owner of the Progresso, to be free of liability from compensation claims made by the survivors and their families. The Fulton Iron Works bore liability only for the deaths and injuries of the Progresso crew members. The second case, however, found that the Michigan Steamship Company was liable because its superintending engineer was on board and allowed holes to be drilled in the tank, knowing that the tank was still full. He also used fuel that ignited at a lower temperature in the tanks than was allowed by San Francisco ordinance. This 1906 case found the steamship company liable for injury claims. (See In re Michigan S.S. Co., District Court of the US for the Northern District of CA, 33 Fed. 577. [1904] and McGill et al., v. Michigan S.S. Co., et al. , Dow, et al. vs. Same, 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, 144 F. 788 [1906]. See also "Progresso Case Reopened," Los Angeles Herald, vol. XXI, no. 330, 08/24/1904, p. 4.)

Demolition

The Fulton Iron Works #4 would have been demolished in 1912 or 1913 to make way for buildings of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE).

PCAD id: 22661