Please Donate
History of the Point Lobos Marine Exchange Building.
The Octagon House at Land s End The old octagonal Marine Exchange building at Lands End, February 1927. -
by John Martini
September 2009
Nearly engulfed by trees above the Land s End parking lot is an overlooked piece of San Francisco s maritime history, the octagonal-shaped Point Lobos Marine Exchange Lookout Station. Completed in early 1927, it was the last of a series of stations that stretched back to the Gold Rush whose function was to watch for approaching ships and announce their arrival. Once a ship was spotted, the lookout relayed the information (especially the ship s name or company insignia) to the Embarcadero where a small army of stevedores, tugs boats, taxis and drayage companies waited to unload the vessel s cargo and transport her passengers.