EMPEROR NORTON TUNNEL
A 90th Anniversary Proposal
Name Yerba Buena Tunnel of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge for the Emperor Who Knew How to Connect
Contact Emperor Norton Trust founder John Lumea
FOR MORE THAN 9 YEARS — from August 2013 to October 2022 — The Emperor Norton Trust led the effort to persuade the California state legislature to add “Emperor Norton Bridge” as an honorary name for the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge.
Our bet is that, when push comes to shove, virtually everyone who has supported this naming effort — including the more than 6,700 who signed our petition before we closed it in August 2023 — would say: “Well, if it's not possible to name the whole thing after Emperor Norton, I'd like to see some part of the bridge named after him.
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.
What if there was a portion of the bridge that still was not officially named — and that was located fully within the City and County of San Francisco? Might that change the political equation?
We see an opportunity.
All three of Emperor Norton’s “bridge Proclamations” of 1872 specified that a bridge connecting Oakland and San Francisco be routed “via Goat Island” — what we know today as Yerba Buena Island.
It’s an idea that was not as obvious in the Emperor’s day as it seems now.
The Yerba Buena Tunnel — which goes through Yerba Buena Island and opened as part of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge in November 1936 — fulfills the Emperor’s vision.
And the island where the tunnel is located is part of San Francisco — the Emperor’s adopted city.
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YERBA BUENA TUNNEL has never been officially named.
2026 will mark the 90th anniversary of both the tunnel and the bridge.
This affords a wonderful opportunity for the California state legislature to finally place the Emperor’s name on his bridge with a simple, elegant gesture. Name the tunnel…
THE EMPEROR NORTON TUNNEL
San Francisco Ferry Building clock tower in 2020. Photograph © Ryan Fitzsimons
Read on for details — but, first, bookmark the dedicated URL for this proposal:
EmperorNortonTunnel.org
The obvious recent historical precedent for naming a state tunnel that previously was not officially named is the Waldo Tunnel, in Marin County just north of the Golden Gate Bridge — completed in two phases in 1937 and 1954. Following the untimely death of actor and comedian Robin Williams in 2014, the California state legislature in 2015 named this the Robin Williams Tunnel.
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 and the Bay Area. 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 1860s and ‘70s 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 religious humanist who defended the separation of church and state and stood against sectarianism
a defender of the people's right to fair taxes and basic services, including well-maintained streets, streetcars, trains, and ferries
Putting Emperor Norton’s name on a prominent San Francisco and Bay Area landmark that sees some 300,000 vehicles — and even more pairs of eyes — per day 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 AND THE BAY AREA TO TELL THEIR 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 and the Bay Area 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 YERBA BUENA TUNNEL?
1
While Emperor is the one person who, historically, has been most closely associated with the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge…
The route of the bridge through Yerba Buena Island is the most SPECIFIC part of Emperor Norton’s stated 1872 vision for the bridge that actually came to pass. (Although the Emperor’s “bridge Proclamations” called for a bridge to be built “from Oakland Point to Telegraph Hill, via Goat Island,” the San Francisco terminus of the Bay Bridge is to the south of Telegraph Hill, at Rincon Point.)
Indeed, the tunnel is the central building block without which this particular Bay-spanning bridge connecting San Francisco and Oakland could not exist.
2
The tunnel is the only part of the original 1936 Bay Bridge that is both
(a) not officially named and
(b) located in San Francisco.
3
Opening to both San Francisco to the west and Oakland to the east, the tunnel is the part of the bridge that best shows Emperor Norton's affinity for the East Bay — preserving the sense of Emperor Norton as a "bridge" figure. The Emperor visited Oakland and Berkeley every week and issued numerous of his Proclamations from the east side of the Bay. He was well-known in the East Bay, was familiar to Oakland newspaper editors, and often was covered in Oakland papers.
4
Just as Emperor Norton's guardianship and defense of specific marginalized groups — Chinese, Black, Native American, immigrant — highlights his ethic of Connectivity…
The tunnel — the “elbow” and conduit of the Bay Bridge — is the “connector of the connector”: a PHYSICAL symbol of Connectivity that invites all who travel though it to be ennobled by that inclusive spirit and take it with them wherever they are going next.
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It helps, too, that…
THE TUNNEL’S CURRENT NAME IS UNOFFICIAL AND PURELY DESCRIPTIVE — THE NAME IS NOT PERCEIVED AS BEING ESPECIALLY MEANINGFUL.
This happy situation makes it easier to introduce the "Emperor Norton Tunnel" idea to the public in a completely positive light: as adding something new to the San Francisco mindscape and memory map without taking something else away.
And, it means that supporters of an "Emperor Norton Tunnel" 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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Bringing the history of the Bay Bridge full circle…
THE MAIN GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY FOR THE BRIDGE TOOK PLACE ON YERBA BUENA ISLAND ON 9 JULY 1933.
Architects and planners of the bridge called the tunnel the “Yerba Buena Crossing.” Naming this after Emperor Norton — who made Yerba Buena Island the linchpin of his 1872 vision for the route of the bridge — would be more than fitting.
And it would cue up a dedication ceremony at Panorama Park on the island, with spectacular views of both sides of the Bay — the sides (San Francisco and Oakland) that the Emperor said, in his bridge Proclamation of January 1872, that he was “desirous of connecting” with a bridge. A wonderful bookend to the groundbreaking of 1933.
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AS TO HIGHWAY SIGNAGE…
We're envisioning two prominent highway signs — one each at:
(a) the western entrance of the eastbound tunnel (lower deck) and
(b) the eastern entrance of the westbound tunnel (upper deck).
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NOW IS THE TIME to lay the groundwork for the California state legislature to pass a resolution naming the Yerba Buena Tunnel the Emperor Norton Tunnel in 2026 — the 90th anniversary of the Yerba Buena Island-routed bridge that Emperor Norton decreed in 1872.
Stay tuned for more information!
