The 1907 committee to plan and construct the new elementary school building searched for an architect the tax payers could afford. They found an experienced young man who had just opened his own practice and was eager for commissions. Benjamin McDougall was forty two years old, born in San Francisco, and had spent several years working with his father and brother in his father’s architectural firm. His design for the new school featured a classical entrance with eight impressive, ground-to-roof columns and a commanding silver dome on the roof. The front of the building has been compared to the United States Treasury Building in Washington D.C. However, Mr. McDougall’s design was unusual in that the north and south wings of building are off-set at a slight backward angle, from the columned portico.
Mr. McDougall went on to some fame in the Bay Area and leaves a legacy of several buildings in Oakland and San Francisco, among them is the Standard Oil Building in San Francisco and the Federal Reality Building in Oakland, also known and the Cathedral Building, the West Coast’s first Gothic Revival skyscraper.
Buildings you may be interested in, designed by Benjamin Geer McDougall:
- Hanford Carnegie Library 1905
- Merced Security Savings Bank 1905
- (Goodwill Ind.) Oakwood Hotel (rebuilt Waldorf Astoria) 1907
- Standard Oil Bldg Bush and Sansome SF
- St. Luke’s Episcopal Church SF
- St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Oakland
- Sheldon Building 1907
- 9-15 1st. St. San Francisco
- Shattuck Hotel 1909
Reevaluated by Bridget Maley Architecture + History LLC Feb. 2013
Evaluated by Franklin Maggi Archives and Architecture, LLC
P. O. Box 1332 San Jose 95109-1332 May15, 2015