Ferry Station Post Office Building

The building you are approaching is the Ferry Station Post Office, often called the Agriculture Building. Built in 1915, it was strategically designed to sit directly on the waterfront so that mail could be offloaded from ferry boats and immediately moved onto the city's streetcar network. Its architectural style is Mediterranean Revival, meant to resemble a classic palazzo. If you look closely at the exterior, you might notice the stone trim looks incredibly realistic, but it is actually a technique called trompe l'oeil, where terracotta was crafted and painted to mimic expensive stone. The building rests on a foundation of wood pilings driven deep into the bay, supporting a steel frame. While it served as the main post office for only a decade, the structure survived the city's various shifts in transportation and development to remain a distinct part of the Embarcadero today.