Since its establishment in 1899, San Francisco State University has held classes at several campuses throughout San Francisco.
The university started as a teacher training school. After the 1906 earthquake, San Francisco Normal School reopened near Market Street at a property bound by Buchanan, Haight, Laguna, and Hermann streets. In 1924, construction began on vacant land for the Kindergarten Training Building, later known as Richardson Hall, the first of three new buildings built to expand the school’s campus. See what the site looks like now, a century later.
The 229 Haight building building was originally built for San Francisco State Teacher’s College and was known as Woods Hall, designated as San Francisco Landmark 257. It was also called Anderson Hall. Through the process of adaptive reuse, it’s now an apartment building in Alchemy, a luxury apartment community, seen here on Feb 9, 2024.
Signs detail San Francisco Normal School’s beginnings and changes in the area bound by Buchanan, Haight, Laguna, and Hermann streets in San Francisco on Feb. 4, 2024. The site was used by SF State, University of California, Berkeley and the French-American International School.
Art is seen in the Haight Street Art Center in San Francisco on Feb. 9, 2024. What used to be Woods Hall Annex/Anderson Hall Annex is now designated as San Francisco Landmark 258. Screen prints, paintings, posters, and more are on display at the center, which is free to visit. (Neal Wong / Golden Gate Xpress)
A woman on a phone call looks out at a lawn and community garden at the Alchemy apartment complex in San Francisco on Feb. 9, 2024. Two private lawn areas are available for residents of Alchemy. Also at the site are Waller Park and a community garden, both designated as Privately-Owned Public Open Spaces. (Neal Wong / Golden Gate Xpress)
Jeremy Fish’s “Bronze Bunny,” a permanent rendition of “The Silly Pink Bunny” statue, sits outside the Haight Street Art Center on Feb. 4, 2024. The previous sculpture was destroyed to allow the Alchemy apartments to be built. The new statue was unveiled in 2017. (Neal Wong / Golden Gate Xpress)
A man looks at art on the second floor of the Haight Street Art Center on Feb. 9, 2024. Also on the floor is a screen-printing studio. (Neal Wong / Golden Gate Xpress)
“A Dissertation on Alchemy” by Reuben Kadish is seen on a wall of a stairwell in the Haight Street Art Center on Feb. 9, 2024. The New Deal fresco was created in 1937 and restored in 2013 after it was graffitied. (Neal Wong / Golden Gate Xpress)
The Haight Street Art Center’s print studio is seen on Feb. 9, 2024. The screen-printing facility is equipped for all stages of the printing process. Screen printing classes are also offered. (Neal Wong / Golden Gate Xpress)
The 65 Laguna building, adapted from Richardson Hall, is seen in San Francisco on Feb. 4, 2024. The building is part of Alchemy, a luxury apartment complex. According to their website, rent currently starts at $3,547 per month. The community also offers below-market-rate housing. (Neal Wong / Golden Gate Xpress)
