Elizabeth Fallon

Senior Thesis Project— 1839 Geary

Spring 2025

In my final semester in the design program at the University of San Francisco, I completed my thesis project: a deep dive into the history of a once iconic San Francisco temple, which was destroyed in a fire and now, in its place, stands an unassuming US Post Office.

To illustrate the rich story of the building at 1839 Geary Blvd, I created a series of three 12x12-inch linocut prints and a book, designed and hand-bound by me. The prints include the current post office, the temple once it was redesigned by California designer Tony Duquette, and the temple in its original form as a Jewish synagogue built in 1906. I stacked the prints and connected them with hinges so observers would have to open it up to see past the current post office, opening it up to first reveal Duquette’s reimagining of the temple, and once more to uncover the first version of the temple. In the book, I chronicle the life of the synagogue, how I came across it, and what my research and process consisted of. Scroll below the images to read a bit more about this building’s history.

I am so proud of this project, as it was a semester-long endeavor of planning, designing, redesigning, and so much printmaking. I am ecstatic that I got to combine so much of what I have learned and grown to love through my time at USF: art history, architecture, book cover and publication design, book binding, print making, and the design process as a whole.

I came across this building while researching typography for a project in 2023, looking at punk show flyers exhibited by the Letterform Archive. I came across the address “1839 Geary” along with its nicknames “Temple Beautiful” and “Temple 1839”. I live off Geary, so the venue caught my attention. It was clear that this was a prominent music venue, but I had never heard of it, so I looked it up and discovered that it no longer exists. The history of the temple is recorded in full in only one spot— a blog created by a Jerry Garcia fan that chronicles all the venues he played at. The information in this blog and the comments from those who remember the temple and shared stories below the blog post informed the bulk of this project.

A brief history of 1839 Geary Blvd:

1839 Geary was a synagogue built in 1906, its construction briefly interrupted by the earthquake that year. It was a beautiful Byzantine-style temple used and loved as a synagogue for about 50 years, when the congregation moved to a synagogue near Lake Merced. It was bought by a bored, rich Polish immigrant who wanted to transform it into a community-centered space, hosting youth, art events, and music events. Some even lived here, volunteering their time in exchange for a place to sleep. The temple became well known for its music events and for a few years was an incredibly popular spot for both local and internationally-renowned music groups.

In the mid-70s, the venue was abandoned and later bought by designer Tony Duquette. He was inspired by the ruins of this religious center and reimagined the temple into a beautiful, gilded museum of sorts that acted as an homage to St. Francis of Assisi and housed his life’s work. He used found materials to create completely new pieces, such as a beautiful, radial sun central to the main temple room, made from old pieces of the organ.

There are only a few pictures available online, as six months after he opened the museum to the public in the 80s, it burned down in a freak electrical fire, taking with it the temple next door, almost the entirety of Duquette’s work throughout his life, and a rich history of community, worship, and San Francisco culture. A few years later, the 1989 earthquake destroyed the temple beyond repair. It was torn down, and in its place now sits a post office. I encourage you, if you pass by the post office next to the Fillmore auditorium, to stop for a moment and imagine what was once there, and all the lives enriched by this space. It was a beautiful building, and I hope to have done it at least a little bit of justice in the creation of my thesis.

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