Central Waterfront in San Francisco City and County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)

Yard Layout: Form Follows Function

Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, October 30, 2020

1. Yard Layout: Form Follows Function Marker

Inscription.
Development of this historic landscape was driven by the growth and decline of the U.S. shipbuilding industry. At its most basic, shipbuilding involves moving heavy steel pieces around, in order to form them into shapes, and then assemble into a ship. From the beginning, Union Iron Works incorporated the most modern practices in the industry, for instance: creating templates in spacious mold lofts above plate shops by scaling up blueprints plan and locating near the shipways.

Union Iron Works also maintained a capacity to fabricate all of its own components, including the engines, which made the iconic Machine Shop (Building 113) a central feature of the yard's original layout, even as new buildings went up along 20th Street and gave the shipyard a more formal public facade. By the end of World War I, the expanding shipyard transformed the adjacent community of Irish Hill, where many of the tradesmen and laborers in the workforce lived. Down came cottages, boarding houses, saloons and lunch counters. Up went classically designed buildings for administration, engineering and electrical power. These changes mirrored a growing division between shipyard workforce and managers in line with rising national- even international tensions between capital and labor.

Looking south from here. The Union Iron Works Machine Shop (Building 113) are visible beyond the laydown yard, with the Irish Hill neighborhood in the background (1890s).

Erected 2020 by Union Iron Works Historic District.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical year for this entry is 1898.

Location. 37° 45.775′ N, 122° 23.244′ W. Marker is in San Francisco, California, in San Francisco City and County. It is in Central

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

Waterfront. It can be reached from the intersection of Illinois Street and 18th Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: San Francisco CA 94107, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on the Coast Ranges.

It is also on the American Pacific Coast.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Ring of Fire,

on the Pacific Rim,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Industrial Architecture (a few steps from this marker); Yard Evolution: New Power and Production (a few steps from this marker); Building 49 (a few steps from this marker); Crane 14 (within shouting distance of this marker); Ship Propeller Drive Shaft (within shouting distance of this marker); Industrialization of the Shoreline (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Steel Lathe (about 400 feet away); Radial Drill Press (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in San

Yard Layout: Form Follows Function Marker - wide view image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, October 30, 2020

2. Yard Layout: Form Follows Function Marker - wide view

The subject marker is the one on the furthest left.

Francisco.

More about this marker. The marker is located on the south side of Building 49 in Crane Cove Park.

Marker inset: <i>An 1898 view of Union Iron Works, looking south...</i> image. Click for full size.

courtesy of San Francisco National Maritime Historical Park, 1898

3. Marker inset: An 1898 view of Union Iron Works, looking south...

An 1898 view of Union Iron Works, looking south. Prominent in the middle ground are the massive machine shops, on today's 20th Street. Ships are being assembled under the sheds along the waterfront to the right, while an older ship that still used auxiliary sail power is hoisted onto a floating drydock. The artist has used his imagination to include examples of modern steel ships built by the shipyard in the foreground, although all of them would not have been there at the same time.

Marker inset: <i>A 1916 view of Union Iron Works, looking south</i> image. Click for full size.

courtesy of the Hagley Museum and Library, 1916

4. Marker inset: A 1916 view of Union Iron Works, looking south

A 1916 view of Union Iron Works, looking south. By this time, the yard had been taken over by Bethlehem Steel Corporation. Ships are under construction at the right, and others are under repair to the left. Many new buildings have appeared along 20th Street-prominent among them is a new Bethlehem Steel Administration Building (Building 101) at the far right of the image. The neighborhood of Irish Hill, which surrounded the yard at the time, seems to be sparsely represented here, perhaps because much of it was being demolished for shipyard expansion.

Marker inset: <i>A laydown yard...</i> image. Click for full size.

courtesy of the San Francisco National Maritime Historical Park, 1895

5. Marker inset: A laydown yard...

A laydown yard near the Foundry with rail tracks and the masts of a tall ship out by the Slips 1,2 and 3, 1895.

Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on June 22, 2021, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 252 times since then and 27 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on June 22, 2021, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.