San Francisco's City Hall is a beautiful grand building and definitely worth visiting if you are in the area (e.g. Alamo Square, Hayes Valley). City Hall is open to the public from Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 8:00 pm.
San Francisco's City Hall has the tallest come in the United States and the fifth tallest in the world after St. Peter's (Rome), Duomo (Florence), St. Paul's (London) & Les Invalides (Paris).
The main entrance to City Hall is on Polk Street (between McAllister & Grove). However, if you have a backpack, you should enter at the lower level entrance on Grove Street (closer to Van Ness). Before you enter City Hall, stop at Civic Center Plaza and admire the architectural beauty of the building from this side. (Note: The start of the video is showing this side of the building.)
If you are entering the main entrance, you will eventually get to the main hall if you walk straight ahead. If you are entering from the Grove Street lower level entrance, you will have to go up the stairs or take the elevator one level up. (Note: Before you go up the stairs, stop by the exhibit of the Base Isolators, which were installed underneath City Hall so the building can withstand a very strong earthquake. See below.)
For a video about the renovation done to City Hall after the damage caused by the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, click here for a link to YouTube.
Also worth checking out, if you have time, is the South Light Court where there are some exhibits.
When you are in the main hall, you will marvel at the beauty and grandeur of the palace for the people of San Francisco. Take you time admiring the architecture.
When you want to see more, I suggest taking one of the elevators to the top (4th) floor. Later you will know why I suggest going to the top and working your way down.
The 4th floor has a nice view of the main hall and the marble workmanship is superb. The workers matched one slab of marble to another so that there continuity in the design (veins in the marble). Pretty much every aspect of the design of the drinking fountains, railings for the stairs and the stairs themselves are all gorgeous.
Take the stairs down to the 3rd floor. This floor is not as beautiful as the 4th floor but still worth taking a walk around.
Take the stairs again down to the 2nd floor. This floor is where the Mayor's office is located as well as the Board of Supervisors Chamber. When people get married, the ceremony is usually by the door to the Board of Supervisors Chamber. (Note: I do not have photos/video of the Board of Supervisors Chamber since it is open only when they have meetings and I do not want to be disruptive during their meetings. It is a very beautiful chamber. The YouTube video link I provided in the last paragraph, before the How to get to City Hall section, will show you the Board of Supervisors Chamber.)
Walk down the grand stairs to get back to the main hall. You will feel like royalty or presidential when you walk down the grand stairs. This is the reason I suggested taking the elevator to the top first as it is better to get the feeling of grandeur walking down vs. walking up.
If you did not enter through the lower level at the Grove Street entrance, take the stairs at the South Light Court one level down to the exhibit of the Base Isolators.
When you get outside, walk to Van Ness and cross the street towards the Opera House and admire the view from this side if you had entered from the main entrance. (Note: If you entered from Grove Street lower level entrance, make surre to exit at the east side where Civic Center Plaza is located to admire the view of City Hall from that side and then walk to the other side on Van Ness.)
For an excellent tour of City Hall video, click on this link to YouTube. Click on this link for another City Hall tour video by the same lady, which has a little bit more information especially about the type of wood used for the Board of Supervisors Chamber.
How to get to City Hall:
The quickest way from downtown is to take the underground Metro (any outbound Metro from Market Street) and disembark at the Van Ness station and walk about three blocks north on Van Ness. (Note: Do NOT disembark at the Civic Center station to avoid going through U.N. Plaza, which is not the best place to be when there is no Farmers Market. See the Note below.) The outbound Muni #5 and #5R buses will also take you to City Hall. Disembark at McAllister & Van Ness, which is just across the street from City Hall.
If coming from the Fisherman's Wharf area, take the outbound Muni #49 bus and disembark at Van Ness & McAllister, which is across the street from City Hall.
Note: On Wednesdays, from 7:00 am to 5:30 pm, there is an outdoors farmers market close by at U.N. Plaza. Please note that U.N. Plaza is not the best place to be when there is no farmers market. I recommend avoiding that area when there is no farmers market.
Here are more photos of City Hall (some not included in the video):
Here are more photos of City Hall (some not included in the video):
(Click to enlarge photos)
Enjoy!
Last updated: September 13, 2021
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