First Unitarian Church, Richardson Romanesque church in Cathedral Hill, San Francisco, United States.
The First Unitarian Church is a Richardson Romanesque building designed by the firm Percy & Hamilton and completed in 1889 at 1187 Franklin Street, at the corner of Geary Street in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood. Its bell tower was rebuilt after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The congregation is also known as the First Unitarian Universalist Church and is nicknamed "Starr King's church".
Unitarians built their first San Francisco church in 1853 at 805 Stockton Street. Within a decade the congregation outgrew it and moved to 133 Geary Street on Union Square under Thomas Starr King, who urged California to join the Union. King died in 1864; his sarcophagus remains on the church grounds. The 1889 Franklin Street building by Percy & Hamilton is in Richardson Romanesque style, and its bell tower was rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake.
The church is nicknamed "Starr King's church" after Thomas Starr King, the minister who urged California to stay in the Union. Early members included Leland Stanford, Bret Harte, Andrew Smith Hallidie and Ralph Waldo Emerson; Julia Ward Howe and Edward Everett Hale joined later.
The building remains active as a place of worship and sits on a slope in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood. Visitors should check opening hours beforehand and be prepared for steps leading to the entrance.
Thomas Starr King, minister from 1860 until his death in 1864, is remembered for urging California to stay in the Union. His sarcophagus stands on the church grounds, and the congregation is nicknamed "Starr King's church" after him.
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