The First Unitarian Church is a church structure built in 1889 and is located at 1187 Franklin Street at Geary Street in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood, San Francisco, California. It is also known the First Unitarian Universalist Church, and is nicknamed "Starr King's church".

History

The Unitarians built their first San Francisco Church in 1853 at 805 Stockton Street. When the congregation outgrew the first building within a decade, a new church was built on Union Square at 133 Geary Street, under clergyman Thomas Starr King, who was instrumental in advocating for California to join the Union. Thomas Starr King died in 1864 and his

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...

still remains is on the grounds of the church. In 1889, the church was moved to 1187 Franklin Street, its current location. The building was designed by architects Percy & Hamilton in the Richardson Romanesque-style. After the

1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...

, the bell tower was rebuilt. Prominent members associated with the early days of the church in San Francisco were James Otis,

Leland Stanford Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824June 21, 1893) was an American attorney, industrialist, philanthropist, and Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician from Watervliet, New York. He served as the eighth governor of Calif ...

Bret Harte Bret Harte ( , born Francis Brett Hart, August 25, 1836 – May 5, 1902) was an American short story writer and poet best remembered for short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a caree ...

, Andrew Smith Hallidie, and

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionism, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalism, Transcendentalist movement of th ...

. Later members of the congregation included

Julia Ward Howe Julia Ward Howe ( ; May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was an American author and poet, known for writing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" as new lyrics to an existing song, and the original 1870 pacifist Mothers' Day Proclamation. She w ...

and Edward Everett Hale. Other ministers after Starr King at this church included Horatio Stebbins (1821–1902) serving from 1864 to 1900; Bradford Leavitt (born 1868) serving from 1900 to 1949; Harry C. Meserve (1914–2000), serving from 1949 to 1957; and Harry Barron Scholefield (1914–2003) serving from 1957 to 1975.

References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures in San Francisco Churches completed in 1889 Unitarian Universalist churches in California Churches in San Francisco

History

See also

References