5-7/8” FANCY SAN FRANCISCO FERRY BLDG CALIFORNIA STERLING SILVER SOUVENIR SPOON

Here is a beautiful, of the highest quality with deep relieves, sterling silver specialty spoon from San Francisco California dating back to early years around 1900 featuring on the front of the handle: starts with a banner reading CALIFORNIA, then the territorial seal with seated Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom, overlooks the Sacramento River scene with ships and boats, Sierra Nevada Mountains in the background and grizzly bear in front. Above is the word EUREKA (Greek for "I have found it") refers to the discovery of gold (also the state motto), which brought the waves of outsiders to the sleepy shores of San Francisco. Below it has California poppy flower, next miner mining and holding pen with nuggets, then crossed pick and shovel and beautiful giant redwood w/ a tunnel through it. In the gold finished bowl it has colorful and detailed polychrome scene of building with a tower, the writing is FERRY BUILDING, SAN FRANCISCO. On the back it shows ornate depiction of STATE CAPITOL bldg., CARMEL MISSION and branch with grapes. All that on a handle!!! Measures 5-7/8” long (148 mm), weighs 30.8 grams and it is in excellent condition. On the back it is marked STERLING and has hallmark with the old mark of H on a pennant for Mechanics Sterling Company, which was subsidiary of Watson Newell Co. Shipping on multiple purchases is gladly combined. Please see other, some rare, collector spoons I'm currently listing. More on the subject: Opening in 1898 on the site of the 1875 wooden Ferry House, the Ferry Building became the transportation focal point for anyone arriving by train from the East, as well as from all the East Bay and Marin residents who worked in the city. From the Gold Rush until the 1930s, arrival by ferryboat became the only way travelers and commuters—except those coming from the Peninsula—could reach the city. In 1892, a bond issue to build a new Ferry Building was passed by the voters of California. A young architect named A. Page Brown drew up plans for a large, steel-framed building. His original proposal was for an 840-foot-long building. However, when the construction estimates came in for the foundation (of pilings and concrete arches) the actual length had to be reduced to 660 feet by removing planned twin entrances at either end. As it was, Brown's foundation—which has supported the entire steel-framed structure in such a remarkably dependable manner through two earthquakes (1906 and 1989)—became the largest such foundation for a building over water anywhere in the world. Brown included a 245-foot-tall clock tower modeled after the 12th century bell tower in the Seville Cathedral in Spain to serve as a welcoming beacon on the Bay. Construction was started in 1896, and the Union Depot and Ferry House—quickly shortened by public use to the Ferry Building—received its first scheduled arrival in July 1898. Passengers off the boats passed through an elegant two-story public area with repeating interior arches and overhead skylights. At its peak, as many as 50,000 people a day commuted by ferry.