Tours of the Tales

The invention of the cable car made it easier – and safer – to move up and down most of San Francisco’s steepest streets.  Suddenly, Nob Hill became the place for San Francisco’s robber  barons (railroad and silver) to build their lavish mansions.  

Charles Crocker, one of these robber barons, purchased all of the lots on the block where Grace Cathedral now stands – except the one owned by Nicholas Yung, an undertaker, located on Sacramento just west of its intersection with Taylor.  Negotiations for the sale of the lot broke down.  There are differing accounts of just what the negotiations were and how they collapsed.  

Grace Cathedral

Grace Cathedral, 1100 California Street (northwest corner of Taylor and California)

If you have read More Tales of the City and/or have seen the miniseries, you already know what happened at Grace Cathedral.  If you’ve done neither of the above, I don’t want to drop a spoiler on you.  Skip this stop of the tour and take time to read the book or watch the miniseries – or better yet, do both.

The Cathedral has two labyrinths.  One is located indoors near the entrance and the other is located outdoors north of the main steps.  The indoor labyrinth is based on the famous medieval labyrinth of Cathedral Notre-Dame de Chartres in Chartres, France.  It is said that if a visitor walks the labyrinth, it will bring a meditative state of mind.

Although Grace Cathedral is now a place of peace and tranquility, this piece of ground was once the scene of spite and rancor.  

Exterior shots of Grace Cathedral were used in the miniseries; however, the interior scene was shot in a church in Montreal. 

Just as in the book and miniseries, there is an elevator in Grace Cathedral that, with a key, will take you up to the stairs that lead to the towers and catwalks.  Keys are needed for levels 2 and 3. The 2nd level is the Chapel of St Francis/Columbarium.  It is open Sundays and by appointment.  If you stand in the Cathedral’s nave and look back at the Ghiberti doors, you will notice that the elevator is located to the right of these main doors of the Cathedral.  In the miniseries, the elevator is coincidentally also located to the right of the Cathedral’s main doors.  

In “More Tales of the City”, Burke’s sudden recollection of the transplant man’s remark “Go ahead. . .it’s organic” occurred  in the elevator.  In More Tales of the City, Burke’s recollection occurred several days prior to Burke’s and Mary Ann’s ride in the elevator.  Mary Ann and Burke were having dinner at the Savoy-Tivoli when he shared with Mary Ann the poem/chant he remembered from his dreams .

Look up!  There are catwalks in Grace Cathedral just above the vaulting…and they do cross nearly directly over the altar.

In the end, Crocker was extremely upset with Yung and, in 1876, he erected a forty-foot high wall that surrounded Yung’s lot on three sides.  Due to its height, the fence needed buttresses to support it.  Because Yung’s lot was not located on the corner, his house received very few hours of sunlight each day.  Young returned fire by constructing a 10-foot-high coffin – complete with skull and crossbones – on his roof pointed at Crocker’s mansion.

The fence became a tourist attraction for over twenty years.  At one point, in October 1877, a crowd of angry San Franciscan’s threatened to tear down the fence.  Yung soon moved his house to another lot…but continued to refuse to sell the lot to Crocker.  After Yung's death, his wife refused to sell this lot to Crocker.  

By 1904, both Yung’s widow and Crocker himself were dead.  Yung’s heirs agreed to sell the lot to the Crocker estate.  Two years later, the Crocker mansion burned as a result of the 1906 earthquake.

Donations are accepted for touring the Cathedral.  For more information: Grace Cathedral.

Armistead Maupin made a cameo in all three of the Tales miniseries.  In “Further Tales of the City”, he plays the role of the Episcopal priest officiating the Mass.  Here is a clip showing Maupin’s cameos in the first three miniseries.