San Francisco`s Hearst Building. Editorial Image

One of San Francisco`s most truly beautiful buildings, the Hearst Building. Originally the site of a hotel, William Randolph Hearst loved the location so much he bought the lot and had the hotel torn down, replacing it with his seven story Hearst Building in 1898, to publish his newspaper. The original Hearst building was destroyed by the earthquake and fire of 1906, so was replaced with this new thirteen story building. When it opened, September 11, 1911, the buildings elevators were the fastest in the city for the time. And Hearst Examiner paper started publishing again, from here. In 1938, Hearst had Julia Morgan do some remodeling of the extra and ground floor. This work included the crest above the door, and a series of cast bronze decrative medallions on the door itself. The paper moved out in 1965 to join The Chronicle in joint publishing in the building at 5th and Mission Streets.