Haslett Warehouse

Haslett Warehouse
Haslett Warehouse at Beach and Hyde Streets
Location680 Beach Street, San Francisco, California
Built1907–1909
ArchitectWilliam S. Mooser Jr.
NRHP reference No.75000172
Added to NRHPMarch 28, 1975

The Haslett Warehouse is a historic waterfront warehouse in the Fisherman's Wharf neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The warehouse was built between 1907 and 1909 and was of a common style when the Wharf was first beginning to be populated.[1] The building is part of San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park and today contains the National Park Service visitor center and the Argonaut Hotel.[2]

The warehouse was constructed originally to act as a warehouse for the California Fruit Canners Association across from its canning facilities. Fruits and vegetables from California's Central Valley were brought to San Francisco, canned at the facility east of the warehouse and moved by a short railroad line to the warehouse for storage and distribution. In 1916, the company became part of the California Packing Company, whose products were sold under the Del Monte label. The building was designed by William S. Mooser Jr., a prominent Bay Area architect who also served as San Francisco's first city architect.[1]

The Haslett Warehouse was designated San Francisco Landmark No. 59 in 1974 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.[1][3]

History

The Warehouse was built at the same time as the canning facility just east of it across the courtyard and where the train tracks previously were. It was originally 3 separate sections that were connected and are now one full building. Construction for both were completed in 1909.[1]

Produce was typically brought from the Central valley of California to be processed and canned. A short rail system brought product from the cannery to the Haslett Warehouse and then also to awaiting delivery systems such as ships to bring to their final destination.[1]

In 1916, the California Fruit Canners Association merged with other companies to create a larger brand (California Packing) that sold product under the Del Monte Label.[1]

The 1930's saw a reduction in canning as they shifted operations to the East Bay. From 1937 to 1948 both sites were primarily only used for storage.[1]

The Haslett Warehouse Company purchased the building in 1948 and it was primarily used for public storage options.[1]

Architecture

The Haslett Warehouse is a four-story brick building using large Douglass Fir beams for support. Its original construction consisted of three connected warehouse sections. The building fronts Beach, Hyde and Jefferson Streets as well as the courtyard between the warehouse and the former cannery.[1]

Because the surrounding streets change elevation, the stories visible vary by street, where the building is on full display with its frontage on Jefferson while the sides on Hyde and Beach have varying levels of height due to the streets being raised with portions of the building now below grade.[1]

The outside of the building has brick columns, decorative cornices and rows of tall windows with some modifications throughout its life. The star-shaped metal anchors on the brick walls as still in place as well and are from the buildings early history.[1]

Historic records describe balconies on the courtyard elevation along with old photos through the NPS archive that catalogue this.[1]

Rail access and loading platform

Rail access played an important part of the Cannery operation with a spur track, moving products from the Cannery to Warehouse and then to shipping operations.[1]

A 1919 Sanborn fire-insurance map documents both the loading platform and the spur track. This was all removed with the installation of the Cannery Courtyard separating the two buildings currently.[1]

William S. Mooser Jr.

The warehouse was designed by William S. Mooser Jr., a Bay Area architect who served as San Francisco's first city architect from 1900 to 1904.[1]

He also headed the city's first Bureau of Buildings, where he created SF's first building code and also issued the City's first building permits. Mooser was involved at different levels with many other San Francisco buildings, including ones associated with the nearby Ghirardelli Square complex.[1]

The National Register of Historic Places identifies Mooser as the architect of the Haslett Warehouse and lists architecture, industry, commerce, and community planning and development among the property's areas of significance.[3]

Later uses

The warehouse had more than a few interesting uses post Cannery operations. From 1930 to 1943, it housed a deconstructed monastery acquired by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst which was later moved to Golden Gate Park.[1]

Shortly after the end of World War II, the warehouse temporarily served as a mortuary. The remains of deceased Chinese residents awaiting burial in China were held at the warehouse until brokers were able to contract with a ship to bring the deceased back to their ancestral home.[1]

The Warehouse hosted many different items of industry during this period of its history.[1]

Proposed railroad museum

The State of California purchased the Haslett Warehouse in 1963 with plans to convert the building into a railroad and locomotive museum. The project was never completed nor does it appear to have been started in any meaningful way.[1]

The warehouse's location along San Francisco's waterfront railroad system made it an early proposed home for a state railroad museum. Oral-history research on the development of the California State Railroad Museum describes plans to use the Haslett Warehouse and notes that the building had access to the Belt Railroad along the waterfront.[4]

The building presented feasibility issues with turning it into a museum and the state of California had it ultimately developed in Sacramento.[4]

Historic designation and National Park Service ownership

San Francisco designated the Haslett Warehouse as Landmark No. 59 in 1974, citing its historical, architectural and aesthetic importance. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places the following year.[1][3]

The warehouse was transferred to the National Park Service in 1978 and became part of San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park in 1988.[5]

At the time of its San Francisco landmark designation, the city described the Haslett Warehouse as an important surviving example of the type of warehouse that had once been common along the northern waterfront. The landmark report noted that many similar buildings had already been demolished and identified the warehouse as an important part of the historic character of Fisherman's Wharf.[1]

2002 fire

A five-alarm fire heavily damaged the Haslett Warehouse soon to be the Argonaut Hotel in March 2002 while the building was being renovated. The fourth floor and roof were extensively damaged, although the brick exterior remained standing with the reinforced steel just recently added playing a part in saving the building.[6]

The fire occurred while the warehouse was being converted for hotel and maritime visitor center causing delays in the opening of both.

Contemporary reporting said seismic work that had already been completed on the warehouse helped prevent the building from collapsing during the fire.[7]

The fire also received national news coverage because of the historic building's location at Fisherman's Wharf.[8]

Conversion to the Argonaut Hotel

In 2002, the NPS entered into a 57-year lease with Kimpton Hotels to renovate the Haslett Warehouse into the Argonaut Hotel. The approximately 198,000-square-foot building was converted into a 252-room hotel while remaining part of San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. It is the only AAA 4 diamond hotel in Fisherman's Wharf.[5]

Work on the project continued following the 2002 fire. In 2003, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the hotel represented an approximately $40 million project as well as the fire pushing the opening back by roughly a year.[9]

The Argonaut Hotel opened in August 2003.[5] The renovation retained the historic warehouse while placing most of the building into hotel use. There also was retail space added as well as the attached Maritime Visitors Center.

The National Park Service identifies currently the Haslett Warehouse as the building containing both the Argonaut Hotel and the park's visitor center.[2]

National Park Service visitor center

The visitor center for San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park occupies part of the Haslett Warehouse alongside the Argonaut Hotel on the westside, Hyde St facing portion of the building. Space for the visitor center was reserved when the hotel renovation was planned and part of the agreement with NPS.[10]

The visitor center contains exhibits about the history and cultural development of San Francisco's waterfront and serves as an introduction to the maritime national historical park.[11]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 "Haslett Warehouse, San Francisco Landmark No. 59" (PDF). San Francisco Planning Department. Retrieved August 17, 2026.
  2. 1 2 "Places". National Park Service. Retrieved August 17, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 "Haslett Warehouse". National Park Service. Retrieved August 17, 2026.
  4. 1 2 Brand, Rebecca. The California State Railroad Museum Foundation Oral History Project (Master's project). California State University, Sacramento. Retrieved August 17, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 "Success Stories – Leasing". National Park Service. Retrieved August 17, 2026.
  6. ↑ Knight, Heather (March 18, 2002). "Fire guts warehouse being converted to hotel". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved August 17, 2026.
  7. ↑ Said, Carolyn (March 19, 2002). "A burned-out dream / Economic recovery for Fisherman's Wharf is further delayed after a raging weekend fire". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved August 17, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Fire guts historic San Francisco building". United Press International. March 17, 2002. Retrieved August 17, 2026.
  9. ↑ Raine, George (April 10, 2003). "Argonaut to open in August / Fire had delayed hotel's premiere for more than a year". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved August 17, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Foundation Document Appendixes". National Park Service. Retrieved August 17, 2026.
  11. ↑ "The Visitor Center". National Park Service. Retrieved August 17, 2026.

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