More than a historic independent library, the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco is a cultural center and world class chess club that’s almost completely hidden among the mammoth office buildings of the financial district. If you don’t know it’s there you’re certain to blink once and miss it. 

What began in 1854 with four books and a lot of ambition has evolved into a collection of over 160,000 materials, the oldest continuously running chess club in the United States, and a hub for people to gather and attend hundreds of events throughout the year.

And you can tour the Mechanics’ Institute for free! Docent-led tours are available weekly. Use this guide to learn more about the library and then take a free tour yourself. 

While you’re in San Francisco make sure you hit all of the best literary spots in the city, see all of the highlights of the iconic City Lights Bookstore and learn more about all of the literary haunts of the Beat Generation and a young Maya Angelou. There are so many amazing literary sites in the city by the bay!

DISCOVER THE MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE LIBRARY: A TRUE SAN FRANCISCO HIDDEN GEM

WHAT IS A MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE?

Mechanics’ Institutes were not a new concept when San Francisco debuted its own in 1854. Largely in part as an answer to the Industrial Revolution, they began in Scotland in the 1820s as vocational learning centers for those who couldn’t attend a more formal university. By the time San Francisco opened theirs, there were already hundreds open in the UK.

It’s important to note that at this time in history the word “mechanic” didn’t just reference someone who worked on cars. Rather, it fully encompassed any kind of skilled worker  who made things with their hands. This could include blacksmiths, butchers, shoemakers, or bakers. 

A MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE IN SAN FRANCISCO

When the 1849 California Gold Rush fizzled out and San Francisco’s population had increased by the tens of thousands, there were hundreds of men coming back from mining gold with nothing to show for it. They were broke, exhausted, and depressed having not met their fortune. 

Some began starting businesses of their own (Ghirardelli chocolate) but most were unskilled and could be flighty–they might pack up and leave at the first word of another gold strike. The city needed to take action. News of successful Mechanics’ Institutes from around the world made headway as places that fostered education and strengthened community. 

In December of 1854, a plan was hatched to create a space in the city where members could pay a small fee to have access to a library, a game room for chess or checkers, and classes that could teach new skills and expand the mind. Progressive for the time, it would be open to all races, backgrounds, and genders. Anyone who wanted to join was welcomed.

Subscribers to the library would pay an initial $5 and then $1.50 additionally each quarter for use of the Mechanics’ Institute. Stockholders in the institute would pay more and be able to hold a vote and hold office but the stockholder initiative was abolished in 1869 as people weren’t fulfilling the payments they had promised (only 10% was due upfront). Today, additional income to the library comes from donations and revenue from the institute’s rental spaces. 

THE EXPOSITIONS OF THE MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE 

Subscribers dues were not enough to fund the library so as a way to supplement income and keep things running the directors of the Mechanics’ Institute began holding expositions that showcased exciting displays of innovation and invention. 

An 18,000 square foot domed building was constructed on the outskirts of town (current day Post and Sutter Streets) to hold these grand events. At the time, it was the largest building in all of California. 31 Expositions were held between 1857-1899, generating a significant amount of revenue for the San Francisco Bay Area and welcoming tens of thousands of visitors.

Featured at the expos were inventive items such as Singer Sewing Machines, Ghirardelli Chocolates, denim from Levi Strauss, Goodyear tires, sourdough bread from Boudin bakery, art, a modern fire engine, and incredible productions of lacework, fabrics, and needwork. In fact, a quarter of the 650 exhibitors at the first fair were women. 

This was also an opportunity to showcase California’s bounty of agriculture and natural resources. A visitor could find tables of the state’s best produce and flowers on display.

THE BUILDINGS

When the Mechanics’ Institute was finally able to fundraise enough to construct its own permanent space, a three story building went up in 1866 at 31 Post street (between Montgomery and Kearny). It was an instant success. Retail space covered the ground floor and the library offered a variety of technical classes, literary readings, and lectures on topics including technology and science in addition to its collection of books. It was able to rent out some of its rooms for events to supplement its income. 

In 1868, when the University of California in Berkeley was established, the Mechanics’ Institute President was asked to serve on the new university’s Board of Regents–a position the Institute would hold until 1974. It was instrumental in helping the new university develop curriculum in its beginning years. 

Then, like most things in San Francisco, the Mechanics’ Institute was completely destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fires afterward. It lost 135,000 volumes plus a vast amount of important materials such as a large collection of California newspapers, artwork, and its collection of scientific and technical articles. The building and its exposition pavilion burned to the ground.

However, there were two safes that survived. Intact items included the Institute’s original Constitution with all founding signatures and a 1853 survey map of San Francisco that still hangs on the second floor of the library today.

When the dust settled, famed San Francisco architect Albert Pissis–designer of the the James Flood building among many others–was hired to rebuild the Mechanics’ Institute at its current location at 57 Post Street. The nine story building was completed in 1910.

Pissis paid such attention to decorative detail. The incredible spiral staircase includes Belgian black marble and Tennessee pink marble. The cast-iron banister that winds around features an image of square key that is also repeated on the floor throughout the building. This, along with the acorns you might see at the base of other stairway banisters represent the pursuit and unlocking of knowledge.

Just a couple years after the new building opened the collection was back up to nearly 40,000 books. Some of these came from east coast states at the request for donations after the fires ravaged the institute. Over the years, the library has shifted its collection from a technical focus to one that features more volumes of social science to appeal to a wider audience. 

THE CHESS CLUB

The Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club is the oldest continuously operating chess club in the nation. When the Institute first decided what its membership would include, it covered a game room for patrons to play checkers and chess. Over the years the chess club has seen visits from the greatest chess players in the world including world champions such as Bobby Fischer, Anatoly Karpov, and Boris Spassky among many others.

For over 50 years the Institute has featured a Tuesday Night Chess Marathon where players come to play a series of seven rounds. Players ranging from Masters to beginners are able to play to test their strengths. 

A FREE TOUR OF THE MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE

The Institute offers free one hour tours of the building on Wednesdays from 12pm-1pm. The tour covers the library and chess club and will peak into other rooms if available. You’ll be able to see the grand spiral staircase and old photos of the expositions once held by the Institute. It’s a great way to learn more about the history of the building and see it for yourself. 

The Institute offers an assortment of events weekly that are available to nonmembers for a fee. These can be found on the events page of their website. 

The Mechanics’ Institute is located at 57 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94104. It’s open Monday from 10am-6pm, Tuesday-Saturday from 10am-8pm, and is closed on Sunday. Take public transportation–the closest MUNI and BART station to the Institute is the Montgomery Street Station.

Have you visited the Mechanics’ Institute Library? Let us know what you thought in the comments!