San Francisco Ferry Building, Ferry terminal and food hall on the Embarcadero in San Francisco, United States
The San Francisco Ferry Building is a ferry terminal and food marketplace on the Embarcadero in San Francisco, United States, topped by a Beaux-Arts clock tower. The ground-level hall contains vendor stalls selling regional specialties, while the outer piers handle ferry connections across the bay.
Opened on July 13, 1898, the Ferry Building replaced a wooden terminal built on the same site in 1875. Until the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge opened in the 1930s, it was the world's second-busiest transit terminal after London's Charing Cross. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged the Embarcadero Freeway in front of it; the freeway was removed by 1992, and a restoration begun in 2002 reopened the building in 2004.
The name Ferry Building refers directly to its original role as the city's main ferry landing, though visitors today come primarily for the regional food offerings. Locals regularly gather at the Farmers Market in front of the structure to buy fresh produce straight from Bay Area growers.
The terminal sits right on the waterfront promenade and is easily walkable from downtown, also reachable by public transit. The indoor marketplace is free to enter, while ferry trips require separate tickets.
The clock tower rises 245 feet and holds four dials, each 22 feet across, visible from Market Street. During daylight the bell sounds parts of the Westminster Quarters every hour. The building survived both the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes with little damage.
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