FoundSF

Unfinished History

At Van Ness Avenue and Geary Boulevard, next to the block where the main St. Mary's Cathedral stood until it burned down in the early 1960s, a succession of new buildings have gone up over the decades.

The once glorious Jack Tar Hotel, the height of mid-20th century trendiness and glamor.

Photo: courtesy Erica Fischer via Flickr

After the Jack Tar went under, the hotel reopened as the Cathedral Hill Hotel, which eventually went under too.

Photo: Chris Carlsson

This massive new hospital fills the entire block and has replaced the hotels that occupied it for the last half-century.

Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2020.