Old Chronicle Or De Young Building San Francisco 1 Editorial Photo

Other then being San Francisco`s first skyscraper, with 218 ft or 66m or 24 floors, and the tallest building on the West Coast when opened in 1889, it was the home of the Chronicle Newspaper, one of several papers in the city and all vying for the most grand building on this one intersection. It originally had a four story bronze clock tower also, but that was accidentally destroyed by fireworks in 1905 in a mayoral victory parade.The paper moved out in 1924, and Home Mutual Saving and Loan moved in, in 1962. It was during this period, as was common at the time to `Modernize` buildings, to cover over all of the bricks and stones, in this case with white enamel siding.When the Ritz Carlton moved in, they lovingly restored the old beauty, making their new, taller building in tan paneled concrete, to help differentiate the old from the new.As seen 21 December 2022.