Old St Mary's Cathedral

The cornerstone was laid on 17 July 1853 by Bishop Joseph S. Alemany, at what were then California and Dupont Streets, and the church was dedicated at midnight mass on Christmas 1854. It is Gothic Revival, designed by William Craine and Thomas England, and was built by Chinese labourers with brick brought round Cape Horn and granite cut in China. It served as the cathedral of the Archdiocese of San Francisco from 1854 until 1891 and has been a parish church ever since. The 1906 earthquake left it standing and the fire the next day gutted it: the exterior brick walls and the bell tower remained, and the bells and the marble altar melted. Under the clock face runs the inscription "Son, observe the time and fly from evil."