Maritime Hall

You are looking at a striking piece of Streamline Moderne architecture that stands as a deliberate anomaly on Rincon Hill. Built in 1950, the Sailors Union of the Pacific building was designed by William Gladstone Merchant, the same architect responsible for the iconic Pacific House at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition. Its white stone and concrete facade was intended to evoke the sleek, clean lines of a ship, a theme that continues inside with porthole-style windows and balconies designed to resemble vessel components. While the neighborhood around it has transformed into a forest of residential glass towers, the building persists in its original purpose as a working union hall where mariners still gather each morning to seek employment.