San Francisco Celebrates 125 Years of Landmark Transit Building
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SF Heritage Media Contact:
Kerri Young
Programs and Communications Director
415-483-4774
kyoung@sfheritage.org
Friends of the Geneva Office Building & Powerhouse Media Contact:
Christian Ard
Co-President
650-273-3575
ard@sonic.net
March 31, 2026 [SAN FRANCISCO]—San Francisco Heritage, the city’s leading preservation organization, will join with the nonprofit Friends of the Geneva Office Building & Powerhouse to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Geneva “Car Barn” on April 22, 2026.
The free event will take place in the complex’s Powerhouse, 2301 San Jose Avenue, at 6:30 pm. Woody LaBounty, SF Heritage President & CEO, will give an illustrated presentation on the site’s history and sign copies of a new book commissioned by the Friends in celebration of the national and city landmark.
Located on the southeast corner of Geneva and San Jose avenues, the Geneva Car Barn complex opened as the offices, power substation, and storage barn of San Francisco’s first electric streetcar line in 1901. Streetcar routes running down the peninsula to San Mateo operated out of the facility until 1949.
“The Geneva complex is significant as a site related to technological innovation and the city’s growth,” said LaBounty, “but it also has important connections to African American, labor, and transit history.”
Mary Ellen Pleasant, one of San Francisco’s most influential entrepreneurs and African American leaders, owned a ranch and roadhouse on the site before deeding the land to the San Francisco & San Mateo Electric Railway. The United Railroads and Market Street Railway companies later operated out of the Geneva complex before San Francisco’s Municipal Railway (Muni) took over in 1944.
“For years, this is where many neighbors worked and others came to buy transit passes,” said Christian Ard, a co-president of the Friends group. “It was our local landmark before any official designation.”
The design of the red-brick office building and substation is attributed to Reid Brothers Architects, a prolific firm responsible for numerous theaters, office buildings, and the Fairmont Hotel.
After suffering damage in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the Geneva Division site was taken out of service by Muni and the building slated for demolition. The Friends of the Geneva Office Building & Powerhouse formed to advocate for its preservation and restoration as a cultural center for the community, especially its youth.
“Our neighborhoods have some of the highest percentages of children in San Francisco,” Dan Weaver, co-founder of the Friends said. “We have so many kids who don’t have resources or services.”
The property was transferred to San Francisco’s Recreation and Parks Department. After many years of advocacy, planning, and investment by the Friends, city, and state, the first phase of renovation of the historic complex was completed in May 2020. The substation half of the building, named The Powerhouse, is now home to the community-serving legacy business, Performing Arts Workshop.
“We hope this anniversary and book release will spur action on completing this 40-year project,” said Ard.
“In addition to all its important history, it’s a beautiful building,” LaBounty said. “Restoring this jewel will be a boon not only to this deserving neighborhood but to all of San Francisco.”
The Geneva Office Building is designated San Francisco City Landmark no. 180. Both the office building and powerhouse are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Event Details
Admission is free, advanced registration required for entry. Doors will open for the event at 6:00 pm. LaBounty’s lecture, the first in SF Heritage’s Page Memorial Lecture Series, will begin at 6:30 pm. Refreshments and copies of the new book, Geneva Car Barn: The Past and Future of San Francisco’s Geneva Office Building and Powerhouse, will be available for purchase. (Book proceeds benefit the Friends of Geneva Office Building & Powerhouse.)
Registration details can be found here.
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About San Francisco Heritage: San Francisco Heritage is a 501(c)(3) membership organization that preserves and enhances San Francisco’s unique architectural and cultural identity. Its programs and partnerships interpret, share, and celebrate the shared histories, landscapes, and communities of the city to instill optimism, belonging, and purpose. www.sfheritage.org
About The Friends of the Geneva Office Building and Powerhouse: The Friends of the Geneva Office Building & Powerhouse is a 501(c)3 organization founded in 2002 by residents of the south central neighborhoods of San Francisco for one purpose: the restoration and the activation of the historic Geneva Office Building and Powerhouse. To learn more, visit www.fgobp.com/.
