The Transamerica Pyramid stands where the Montgomery Block once stood. The tan building,just visible in the background on the right,stands where the International Hotel once stood.

San Francisco Landmark #33

Sentinel Building

AKA Columbus Tower

AKA Coppola's Cupola

916-920 Kearny at Columbus

Financial District

Built 1907

The Sentinel Building, designed by Salfield and Kohlberg, is a flatiron building clad in white tile and copper. Construction was begun before the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. The framing survived the disaster, and the building was completed in 1907. The top floor housed the real estate brokerage of Political boss Abe Ruef after his release from San Quentin State Prison on charges of graft.

Many San Francisco guides, both paper and cyber, report that Caesar salad was invented here during prohibition, that the original hungry i nightclub was located in the basement, and that the Kingston Trio bought the building in 1959 and recorded here.

The first report is almost certainly false. It is generally acknowledged that Caesar salad was improvised by Caesar Cardini at his restaurant in Tijuana using leftover Romaine lettuce and ingredients that happened to be on hand. According to Cardini's daughter Rosa, the date was July 4th 1924.

A very young Barbra Streisand sang at the hungry i, but Barbra Archives states that the nightclub was in the basement of the now demolished International Hotel

Regarding the Kingston Trio, evidence suggests that the trio did own the building but that their studio recordings were made at Capital Records Studio B in Los Angeles. The official Kingston Trio website does not mention the Sentinel Building, but architectural critic Allan Temko, whom I trust, wrote an obituary for Rob Moor in the San Francisco Chronicle dated 16 June 1997