Golden Gate International Exposition, Treasure Island, San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA

Significance: The Golden Gate International Exposition of 1939-40 was held to celebrate the monumental achievement of the construction of the Golden Gate and San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridges, but was also designed to help bring the United States out of the Great Depression of the 1930s with a positive show of harmony between nations. The shoals of Yerba Buena Island were chosen as the site of the fair, and also as the location for a future local airport for San Francisco. Appropriately, the Exposition was designed in line with the planned airport. Three permanent buildings were constructed to serve the functions of the Exposition and the airport. The Administration Building (Building 1) would serve as the airport's terminal building, the Hall of Transportation (Building 2) and Palace of Fine and Decorative Arts (Building 3) would serve as hangars. As a result of WWII, the airport was never built. Today, these building are the only extant buildings on Treasure Island that date to the Exposition period.
Survey number: HABS CA-2785