The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, San Francisco

The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption

Shown in these photos was the second St. Mary's Cathedral, built on Van Ness Avenue and O'Farrell Streets, San Francisco, in 1891. Sam Berger did much of the wood carving for this lovely church. The photo above was located amongst troves of Berger archive photos, and is quite rare. I was thrilled to find it, and am searching for more.

School children gathered on the steps of St. Mary's to greet President Teddy Roosevelt when he visited in 1903. It survived the 1906 earthquake and fire and gave out food to the refugees during the reconstruction. 

The fire...

Sadly, this church served the community until gutted by an arson fire on September 7, 1962. It was demolished in favor of a new modern cathedral built 2 blocks further up the hill on Geary Blvd.

The original St. Mary's Cathedral was built in 1851 on California Street at Dupont (now Grant Avenue).