San Francisco Chronicle Building

The San Francisco Chronicle Building is a historic office and commercial building located in downtown San Francisco. Completed in 1890 and later expanded, it originally served as the headquarters for the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper, one of the city’s leading publications.

The building combines elements of Beaux-Arts and early skyscraper design, featuring a vertical emphasis, decorative façades, and large windows that allowed natural light to illuminate newsroom floors. Its design reflects the ambitions of a growing newspaper industry at the turn of the 20th century and San Francisco’s emergence as a major urban center.

Over the decades, the building housed editorial offices, printing operations, and administrative functions, making it a hub of journalism and media activity in the city. Today, while no longer the newspaper’s primary headquarters, the structure remains notable for its historic architecture and its role in San Francisco’s media history, representing both the city’s commercial growth and the evolution of American newspapers.

The old newsroom on Mission Street is steeped in lore, from the ciphers sent there by the Zodiac Killer (and also featured in David Fincher's 2007 film "Zodiac") to the fierce rivalry, and eavesdropping, between the neighboring Examiner and Chronicle newsrooms. The building was also featured in Steven Spielberg's 2011 thriller "Contagion".