The Emperor Norton Trust

 EMPEROR NORTON TOWER

A 125th / 175th Anniversary Proposal
Name the Clock Tower of the San Francisco Ferry Building for the Emperor Who Knew What Time It Was

Contact Emperor Norton Trust founder John Lumea

SOMETHING that no doubt has helped to fuel the longstanding grassroots desire and effort to see Emperor Norton’s name placed on the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge — which the Emperor envisioned in 1872 — is the fact that the bridge is a major public landmark.

Our bet is that, when push comes to shove, virtually everyone who has supported the "Emperor Norton Bridge" effort — including the more than 6,700 who have signed our petition here — would say: “Well, if it's not possible to name that major public landmark in San Francisco after Emperor Norton, I'd like to see some major public landmark in San Francisco named after the Emperor.”

The Emperor Norton Trust led the “Emperor Norton Bridge” effort for more than 9 years — from August 2013 to October 2022. Although there continues to be strong grassroots support for this idea...

It seems pretty clear that the current generation of California and Bay Area lawmakers and leaders are not interested in making this honorary bridge naming happen.

A double-factor that always complicated the bridge-naming effort:

(1) Because the Bay Bridge is a state structure — one with feet on both sides of the Bay — any honorary naming has to be approved by the full state legislature, requiring significant support from Oakland and elsewhere outside of San Francisco — BUT…

(2) Emperor Norton is seen as being primarily a San Francisco figure.

Comes the question, then…

Is there a fitting San Francisco-specific landmark that could bear the Emperor’s name?

What prominent, emotionally powerful landmark that is alive in the imaginations of those who live in — who visit — and who are attuned to San Francisco could make a “Bay Bridge-level” statement, were it named after Emperor Norton?

Might a different landmark even more successfully answer a deeper set of questions:

• What is a civic commemorative naming for?

• What should an Emperor Norton naming, in particular, seek to do?

  • Which messages might the naming help deliver?

  • What kinds of conversations might it help to foster?

  • What are the audiences for these messages and conversations?

  • What is the most fruitful location for reaching these audiences?

  • What kind of visibility is important? What kinds of urban settings would best promote meaningful engagement with the naming?

In considering these questions, we’ve kept coming back to THE CLOCK TOWER OF THE SAN FRANCISCO FERRY BUILDING — an historical landmark that truly "presides" over San Francisco, and welcomes all to San Francisco, in a way that none other does.

The Ferry Building — which opened in 1898 — turned 125 last year. And, a 3-year exterior renovation completed at the end of 2023 has the building and tower looking spiffier than ever. (For Historical Resources on the Ferry Building, scroll below.)

The 245-foot-tall clock tower has never had a dedicated name.

Building on last year’s 125th anniversary of the Ferry Building, this year’s 175th anniversary of the future Emperor Norton’s arrival in San Francisco in November 1849 would be a wonderful time to name the tower…

THE EMPEROR NORTON TOWER

Read on for details — but, first, bookmark the dedicated URL for this proposal:

EmperorNortonTower.org

WHY SHOULD EMPEROR NORTON BE HONORED AT THIS LEVEL?

• Emperor Norton was a herald — and is a symbol — of the values of fairness, tolerance, self-determination and the common good that came to be associated with San Francisco. In addition to being a general ambassador of his adopted city, he was a champion of the public interest who was more far-sighted and forward-thinking than most of his contemporaries. For example, the Emperor was:

  • an adversary of corruption and fraud of all kinds — personal, political and corporate

  • a persistent voice for fair treatment, greater legal protections and equality for immigrants and other marginalized groups — including Chinese, African Americans and Native Americans

  • an advocate for fair labor practices

  • a defender of the people's right to fair taxes and basic services, including well-maintained streets, streetcars, trains and, yes…ferries

• Naming a prominent, oft-visited and -photographed San Francisco landmark for Emperor Norton would:

  • Plant a flag for the values that the Emperor represented — some of the noblest values of San Francisco, the Bay Area and California in general — at a time when it couldn't be more important to do so;

  • UNLOCK A POWERFUL NEW OPPORTUNITY FOR SAN FRANCISCO TO TELL ITS OWN STORY — the story of a spirit of openness and equality that also includes compassion for those at the margins; and

  • Announce, in the boldest terms, that San Francisco remains a place that welcomes outsiders and dreamers — and that enables visions of progress to take root and grow from the most unexpected quarters.

But…

WHY SPECIFICALLY THE FERRY BUILDING CLOCK TOWER?

The points unfold:

1

The clock tower is physically aligned with the seawall and thus with the shoreline that welcomed Joshua Norton when he arrived in Yerba Buena Cove in November 1849.

2

Emperor Norton (1818–1880) did actually USE the original September 1875 Ferry Building and its January 1877 clock tower on this same site to travel by ferry to and from the East Bay (Oakland, Berkeley). (He did not use the bridge — as the bridge did not yet exist.)

Related to (2)...

3

Even more so today than during Emperor Norton’s time, the building and environment that the clock tower presides over is essentially an indoor/outdoor pedestrian hub and gathering space, which is to say: the kind of space where the Emperor — who always was ON FOOT within San Francisco — might have felt at home.

Related to (3) — and very topical to the current Ferry Building and its farmers’ market...

4

In November 1873, Emperor Norton issued a Proclamation calling for the block bounded by Merchant, Clay, Sansome and Battery to be converted into an open square for A DEDICATED FARMERS' MARKET (see here).

5

This is a San Francisco site. Meaning, among other things, that:

• San Francisco could get the naming done on its own — without the state legislature.

• It could be seen as a more natural fit for a San Francisco-identified figure like Emperor Norton.

BUT...

6

It also is the San Francisco site that best shows the Emperor's affinity for the East Bay — preserving the sense of Emperor Norton as a "bridge" figure. (See (2). The Emperor visited Oakland and Berkeley every week. After the original Ferry Building opened in September 1875, he used the building to make these trips — and, after the building’s clock tower was completed in January 1877, he would have passed under the tower on each departure and return.)

Related to (6)...

7

The tower is in view of the bridge with which the Emperor, more than any other person, has been historically associated — his having set out the vision for the bridge with three newspaper Proclamations in 1872.

8

Just as Emperor Norton's guardianship and defense of specific marginalized groups — Chinese, Black, Native American, immigrant — highlights his ethic of Welcome and Hospitality…

The clock tower is a PHYSICAL symbol of Welcome and Hospitality that invites all who arrive at its feet to be ennobled by that inclusive spirit and take it with them wherever they are going next.

Related to (8)...

9

The tower CLOCK reinforces the idea that Emperor Norton was a farsighted figure knew what time it was — historically, socially, politically, culturally — and stood tall in saying what time it was.

10

Just as Emperor Norton was unflappably persistent in the face of personal trials and even ridicule, the clock tower withstood the ravages of 1906. Call this "the durability argument."

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It helps, too, that…

THE CLOCK TOWER DOES NOT HAVE — AND IS NOT PERCEIVED AS HAVING — AN EXISTING NAME.

This happy situation makes it easier to introduce the "Emperor Norton Tower" idea to the public in a completely positive light: as adding something new to the San Francisco mind-scape and memory map without taking something else away.

And, it means that supporters of an "Emperor Norton Tower" proposal would not be cast as taking sides — or as being competitors — in a “renaming” contest.

This would be a first-ever naming — NOT a renaming.

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What also is wonderful about this...

THE VIEW FROM COMMERCIAL STREET.

Commercial Street — where Emperor Norton lived — is the only corridor other than Market Street that has long, clear eastern vistas to the Ferry Building clock tower.

Looking east from the Emperor's block of Commercial Street between Montgomery and Kearny, one can see the clock tower — and one can see it even more clearly from the next block of Commercial, as the street rises towards Grant Avenue. From these two blocks, Commercial Street perfectly frames the tower.

In fact: Because the Ferry Building was constructed on the seawall itself, the building and its clock tower are not perpendicular to Market Street but, rather, are canted slightly to the west. There was some grousing about this when the tower was going up in the late 1890s. But, the canting brings the front of the clock tower more fully into view from Commercial Street than otherwise would be the case.

Check out what's in the eastern slot of this view of Commercial looking east from Grant...

For a series of seven Commercial Street views of the clock tower photographed in the period between c.1900 and 1960, click here.

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So…

WHAT WOULD NAMING THE FERRY BUILDING CLOCK TOWER “THE EMPEROR NORTON TOWER” DO FOR THE FERRY BUILDING — AND FOR SAN FRANCISCO?

From a branding perspective, The Emperor Norton Tower would — to borrow a shopworn phrase — be a "gift that keeps on giving."

The Emperor Norton Trust has built a number of co-promotional relationships with local saloons and taverns — Comstock Saloon; House of Shields; yes, Emperor Norton's Boozeland — making these go-to destinations for toasting the Emp.

The Ferry Building, with its own stable of restaurants and bars, could be added to this list.

But, this only scratches the surface of what is possible:

• The Emperor Norton Tower would capitalize on — and enrich — the Ferry Building's existing status as a tourist destination that tells San Francisco's story.

• A handsome “Emperor Norton Tower” plaque at the street level could be a magnet for a steady new stream of photo seekers who would patronize Ferry Building businesses — and create buzz for the Ferry Building by posting their photos to social media.

• The Norton story is an historical and metaphorical treasure trove that would create a multitude of opportunities to use The Emperor Norton Tower to promote the Ferry Building — and San Francisco — year-in and year-out.

The Emperor Norton Trust would be a ready resource to support all these efforts.

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WE’VE GOT this year!

Scroll below for our further commentary, as well as historical resources on the Ferry Building — and, stay tuned for more information.

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Further Commentary

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Historical Resources on the Ferry Building

National Archives
This 55-page information packet includes

• drawings and plans;

• photographs;

• the 1978 National Register of Historic Places nomination; and

• articles in anticipation of the major rehabilitation of the building completed in 2002.

1977 designation as San Francisco Landmark #90
6-page document here includes resolutions and reports from:

• San Francisco Board of Supervisors

• San Francisco Planning Commission

• San Francisco Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board (a.k.a. “Landmarks Board”)