Published: September, 2001
September, Labor Day, and the dedication of Harry Bridges Plaza at the foot of San Francisco’s Market Street: three good reasons to show up on a Saturday morning in August and watch the goings-on from the corner of Mission and the Embarcadero
My perch is the sidewalk in front of the Audiffred Building. An historic marker set in the concrete by the front door tells us that the famed labor leader kept his office on the second floor, and that it was from here that he directed the famous Longshoremen’s General Strike that culminated in Bloody Thursday and the securing of labor rights for waterfront workers.
The marker also tells us that the Audiffred Building was the only structure in this part of town to survive the fires the engulfed the area in the wake of the 1906 Earthquake. Apparently, the buildings’ owners offered the firefighters battling the blazes a firehouse full of liquor if they could save the building. They did.
