San Francisco City Hall

On the west side of Civic Center stands the 300ft/92m-high City Hall, the fifth in San Francisco's history; its immediate predecessor, which stood on the site now occupied by the Main Public Library, collapsed prior to completion during the 1906 earthquake.

The present building, constructed between 1912 and 1915, was designed by two Californian architects, John Bakewell and Arthur Brown jr., on the model of a French Renaissance château.

It is nearly 400ft/120m long and 300ft/90m wide, with offices ranged around an interior courtyard beneath a tall dome. At 300ft/90m it is even a few meters higher than the Capitol in Washington. The drum, encircled by pillars, reaches a height of 190ft/58m at which point the dome is 85ft/26m in diameter.

Inside the City Hall are the offices of the city's administration including the mayor's office, council chambers of the eleven-strong Board of Supervisors, and city courts. The building is an impressive manifestation of San Francisco's municipal pride. The City Hall work-force numbers some 1,260 people.