The Fallon Building, also known as the Carmel Fallon Building, is a historic mixed-use building built in 1894 and located in the

Castro District The Castro District, commonly referred to as the Castro, is a neighborhood in Eureka Valley in San Francisco. The Castro was one of the first gay neighborhoods in the United States. Having transformed from a working-class neighborhood throug ...

of San Francisco, California. It is the home of the San Francisco LGBT Center since 2002. The building has been listed as a

San Francisco Designated Landmark This is a list of San Francisco Designated Landmarks. In 1967, the city of San Francisco, California adopted Article 10 of the Planning Code, providing the city with the authority to designate and protect landmarks from inappropriate alterations. ...

since November 8, 1998.

History

The Fallon Building is located at an intersection corner at 1800 Market Street in San Francisco. The three-story, 6,000-square-foot building was designed by architect, Edward D. Goodrich in a Queen Anne style. The structure was built in 1894 for Carmel Lodge Fallon (she has many variations of name, also known as Maria del Carmen Juana Josefa Cota Fallon, Martina Castro Fallon, or Carmelita Castro Fallon), a

Californio Californio (plural Californios) is a term used to designate a Hispanic Californian, especially those descended from Spanish and Mexican settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries. California's Spanish-speaking community has resided there sinc ...

entrepreneur and landowner, she had inherited land in the area of

Soquel Soquel (; Ohlone: ''Sokel'') is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California, located on the northern coast of Monterey Bay. The population was 9,980 at the 2020 census. Geography Soquel is located a ...

. She was divorced from

Thomas Fallon Thomas Fallon (1825–1885) an Irish-born Californian politician, best known for serving as 10th Mayor of San Jose. Fallon remains a controversial figure in San Jose's history, owing to his role in the American Conquest of California. Biograp ...

, a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Commander that had conquered the city of San Jose for the United States in 1846, and he later served as the mayor of the city. Fallon was also the niece of

José Antonio Castro José Antonio Castro González (born 11 August 1980) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a right-back. He gained notoriety for his performances with Club América and at the 2006 FIFA World Cup for Mexico. He is often refer ...

, the last Mexican Governor of

Alta California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...

; and the namesake of the Castro District and Castro Street. In December 1996, the San Francisco LGBT Community Center purchased the building. The Fallon Building had been subject to decades long debates on architecture preservation, and subject to many remodels. The group, "Friends of 1800 Market Street" was formed by Jim Siegel and others, named after the address of the Fallon Building with the mission of preserving the architectural heritage of San Francisco, among other things.

References

External links

Official website of SFLGBT Center
{{Authority control San Francisco Designated Landmarks Castro District, San Francisco 1890s architecture in the United States Houses completed in 1894 Queen Anne architecture in California