There has been quite a bit of newspaper coverage recently about proposals for a new plaza in front of the Ferry Building. The photos accompanying the articles prompted me to wonder about the building's current color scheme -- charcoal gray street level with a light grey tower. Is this a historic color pattern, or a partially completed attempt a recreating a historic scheme?

John Martini

-- John Martini (martini@nps.gov), July 12, 1998

Answers

John: I checked two postcards which I recently acquired of the Ferry Building. One is postmarked 1905 and the other bears the date 1915 on the tower. Both show the tower as being the same charcoal grey as the ground level.

-- Joel GAzis-SAx (gazissax@best.com), August 23, 1998.