Sheldon Building, 9-15 First Street, San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA

Significance: The Sheldon Building was built within a year after the 1906 earthquake and is an early example of a major downtown structure utilizing reinforced concrete as a building material. The architect of the building, Benjamin G. McDougall, was an important designer in the San Francisco Bay Area with the first Standard Oil building on Bush Street in San Francisco to his credit. Of equal if not greater importance was the building's engineer, John B. Leonard. Leonard was a leader in the use of reinforced concrete in California. The Sheldon Building is well proportioned and stands as a fine example of a turn-of-the-century office building. The building is rated "B" in Splendid Survivors, the comprehensive historic resources survey of downtown San Francisco. A "B" rating indicated eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Although not evaluated as part of the San Francisco City Planning Department's 1974-76 Architectural Inventory, the Sheldon Building is included on the city's list of "Architecturally and/or Historically Significant Buildings in the C-3 Zoning Districts" endorsed by the City Planning Commission on May 29, 1980.
Survey number: HABS CA-2203
Building/structure dates: 1907 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1958 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1964 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1974 Subsequent Work