The Stockton Street Tunnel is a tunnel in San Francisco, California, and carries its namesake street underneath a section of Nob Hill near

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

for about three blocks. The south portal is located just shy of Bush Street, which is about two blocks to the north of Union Square. The north portal is located just to the south of the Sacramento Street intersection.

History

The tunnel was primarily built for the streetcars of the now defunct

F Stockton 30 Stockton is a trolleybus line operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway. The line is notable for being the slowest trolleybus route in the city of San Francisco because it travels through the densely populated neighborhood of Chinatown. ...

line. A petition was filed for a new streetcar line by Frank Stringham, representing an unnamed group of investors, with the

San Francisco Board of Supervisors The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco. Government and politics The City and County of San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, being simultaneously a c ...

on January 23, 1909. Their intent was to create a nearly level route connecting North Beach with the downtown area. George Skaller later took credit for the initial push for a tunnel, saying that the city had studied the idea for at least 20 years, but would never be built as "all city enterprises, on account of the long and windy red tape connected with city enterprises" were doomed by bureaucracy. Stockton was favored over Grant, which was seen as too narrow, or Kearny, which already was franchised to the United Railways. Although Skaller initially hoped to raise private funding for the tunnel, the Board of Supervisors imposed a requirement allowing the city to take over the railway after ten years at its physical valuation, and no private investors were willing to fund the project. Instead, Skaller turned to the idea of public funding through a special assessment district, labeling the project as an "improvement" for existing roads. The Stockton Street Tunnel Association launched its fundraising campaign in May 1910, hoping to raise $450,000 (equivalent to $ in ) to cover construction costs by creating a special assessment district to fund the improvements. The estimated assessment for a lot was $62.50 (equivalent to $ in ) in 1910. The project adopted the slogan "The open door to North Beach" in May 1910. The Stockton Street Railway franchise was relinquished to the city in 1910, and suggestions were made that if ferries from Marin would land in North Beach instead of the Ferry Building, the resulting rise in local property values would offset the cost of the assessment. Two assessment districts were set up, in North Beach and Downtown, and projected traffic was estimated to reach 50,000 to 75,000 passengers per hour during the Panama–Pacific International Exposition of 1915. The precedent set by the assessment districts for the Stockton Street Tunnel sparked interest in building a similar tunnel under Fillmore Street and leveling

Rincon Hill Rincon Hill is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It is one of San Francisco's many hills, and one of its original " Seven Hills." The relatively compact neighborhood is bounded by Folsom Street to the north, the Embarcadero to the e ...

to increase usable land, but these added works were not carried through. Final plans for the tunnel were filed by city engineer Marsden Manson in March 1912. By June 1912, the final legal and funding issues were being resolved, and work was to start "within 30 or 60 days." In July 1913, excavation of the bore was planned to take 100 days. During construction, hotel guests were kept awake by work at night and at least one worker was killed by a cave-in. Revenue service through the tunnel was inaugurated by Mayor James Rolph on December 29, 1914. Streetcar service through the tunnel ended on January 20, 1951, and was re-designated as route 30. Tracks were removed, but electrified overhead wires were retained for trolleybus service. In 1984, prodded by

advocates, San Francisco added safety rails for the sidewalk, new lighting, and waterproofing, after a pedestrian was killed by an automobile.

Design

The tunnel was built to decrease the grade through the hill. Before the tunnel was built, the maximum grade along the route of Stockton north from its intersection with Sutter was 18% and the maximum grade south from the intersection with Sacramento was 12%. The tunnel was built with a maximum grade of 4.29% between Sacramento and Sutter. Initial plans in 1909 called for a tunnel long. The planned tunnel was shortened in 1910 to , with a width of and a height of , with stairways to connect the tunnel with Pine and California streets. The bore was narrowed slightly in 1912, with a total planned width of and a height of . Construction involved lowering Stockton Street near where it passes into the tunnel from the south, evidence for which can still be seen at the building of 417 Stockton Street (Mystic Hotel), where the basement became the ground floor and the former front door is now a visibly marked window bay on the second floor.

Gallery

File:SF Call, 1909-01-24, page 24.png, Initial design of south portal (1909) File:SF Call, 1910-05-13, page 18.png, Updated south portal (1910) File:SF Call, 1912-03-30, page 11.png, Final south portal design (1912) File:Coming Out of the Stockton Tunnel (29780812760).jpg, North portal from within the tunnel, Chinatown (2016) File:Stockton Tunnel (847294326).jpg, Looking out through the south portal (2007) File:Tunnel Top Bar (8585180814).jpg, Top of stairs connecting upper Stockton Street with lower Stockton Street (2013) File:South portal of the Stockton Tunnel, San Francisco at night dllu.jpg, South portal (2020)

In media

* The opening scene of '' The Maltese Falcon'' novel (1929) is set at the corner of Bush and Stockton, atop the southern portal of the tunnel. * A promotional poster for the 1941 film adaptation of the Maltese Falcon features a man standing in the tunnel. * One scene in

David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. His films, mostly psychological thrillers and biographical dramas, have received 40 nominations at the Academy Awards, including three for him as Best Director. Fin ...

's film ''

The Game The Game or The Games may refer to: Sports and games * The Game (dice game) (German: ''Das Spiel''), a dice game designed by Reinhold Wittig * The Game (mind game), a mind game, the objective of which is to avoid thinking about The Game itself * ...

'' (1997) was shot at the same corner. * In Ron Underwood's film '' Heart and Souls'' (1993), a bus crashes above the tunnel and drops to block the Stockton Street Tunnel's entrance. * In the movie '' Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'' (2021), a fight scene occurs on a bus that travels through the tunnel.

References

External links