140 New Montgomery, Art Deco skyscraper in South of Market, San Francisco, United States.
140 New Montgomery is a 26-floor Art Deco tower in South of Market, rising 140.21 metres with an L-shaped plan. Its pale grey stone and terracotta facade is divided by vertical piers framing paired narrow windows, with chevron patterns crossing the mid-height and eight 13-foot eagles perched on the crown. A carved stone arch with a dark metal grille marks the New Montgomery Street entrance, and a sculpted medallion sits above it.
The building opened in 1925 as the Pacific Telephone Building and was among the first major high-rises built south of Market Street. Its construction marked the beginning of high-rise development in this area and transformed the skyline of the district.
The building displays the artistic craftsmanship of the Art Deco movement through decorative motifs visible across its facade. These ornaments reflect how people in the 1920s valued beauty in modern high-rises and shaped the look of growing cities.
The best time to visit is during daytime when the building is easily accessible through the surrounding neighborhood and the architecture is most visible from outside. Its proximity to public transportation makes getting there straightforward, and visitors can view the entire facade from street level.
For 44 years until 1978, the tower's roof relayed storm warnings to sailors for the U.S. National Weather Service: a triangular red flag 25 feet (7.6 m) long by day and a red light at night. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged parts of the terracotta cladding, and the eight eagles on the crown were replaced with fiberglass replicas.
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