The Press Building was the exposition's thank-you to the newspapers that had promoted it. Built for about $26,000, it stood in the South Gardens just east of the Scott Street main gate and held the Associated Press, the United Press, the local dailies and the San Francisco Press Club. Visiting newspapermen were given desks and telegraph connections, and bulletin boards posted the world's news as it came over the wires. It also housed the Information Bureau and most of the eleven bureaus of the Division of Exploitation, the exposition's publicity arm.
The Press Club dedicated it on April 3, 1915 with a mock funeral. On the lawn to the west it buried an ugly effigy of a 'jinx' under a stone reading 'Here Lies Dull Care, the Unloved Child of Woe and Misery.' Cavalry, marines and sailors from the Oregon marched from the Baker Street entrance, and Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan sent congratulations over the transcontinental telephone. Swimming contests were later held in the pool in front of it.
At a glance
- Cost approximately $26,000 (Todd vol. 1, ch. XLIX).
- Built by contractor Neil A. McLean (Todd vol. 2).
- The Official Guide places it 'just to the right of the main or Scott Street entrance gates.'
- It shared a janitorial crew with the Service Building (Todd vol. 5).
Afterward
Not separately recorded; demolished with the grounds after the fair.
Where it stood
Press Building stood at about 37.80042 N, 122.44044 W on today's map. The whole fairground over the city →
Sources
- Todd, The Story of the Exposition, vol. 1, ch. XLIX (Publicity)
- Todd, The Story of the Exposition, vol. 3, ch. VI (dedication, April 3)
- Official Guide of the PPIE (1915), The Press Building; Information