In searching for a Catholic church during our recent trip to San Francisco, we discovered St. Boniface, ornate Gothic/Romanesque Revival church built in 1900 (and rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake). It's located in the Tenderloin neighborhood, and services a fairly poor parish. That makes its mission all the more important -- and why it's great to see that the church, which came close to demolition in 2002, was still able to raise enough funds to be seismically retrofitted and restored.
According to the church, the original St. Boniface Church was dedicated in April 1860 and served as the center of San Francisco's German Catholic community. The new church was built in its current spot in 1900 -- but had to be rebuilt after the earthquake.
The 2002 retrofit lasted five years, at a cost of $12 million. "During the retrofit construction project, workers excavating beneath the heavy stone walls found the ashes and crumbled mosaics of the 1906 cataclysm," the church said. "It was said to be several feet deep. St. Boniface Parish in San Francsico is quite literally built upon the ashes of the past."
Here are some shots we took at the church:
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