Marine Building

The Marine Building rises from the street with a facade of terracotta, featuring sculpted sea creatures, ships, and Neptune himself peering down from the upper reaches. Completed in nineteen thirty, the building was designed to resemble a crag rising from the sea, adorned with thousands of terra-cotta tiles that detail the history of Pacific exploration. During the Great Depression, the costs of such intricate artistry pushed the original owners into bankruptcy, and the building was eventually sold for a fraction of its construction cost.