Swedenborgian Church (San Francisco)

The Swedenborgian Church in San Francisco holds the distinction of being the only house of worship in the city to be designated a National Historic Landmark. Completed in eighteen ninety-five, the structure serves as one of the earliest and most pure examples of the Arts and Crafts movement in the United States. Its founding pastor, the Reverend Joseph Worcester, envisioned a space that harmonized religious life with the natural world, a philosophy he developed through a close and long-standing friendship with the famous naturalist John Muir. This vision transformed the church into an architectural sanctuary that feels more like a rustic mountain lodge than a traditional urban place of worship.