The Jackson Square building was constructed in 1911-12 and designed by Albert Pissis (also credited for the Flood Building and Emporium building, now Westfield Shopping Center on Market). Originally designed as a hotel and lodging house, the building served many uses for the past 93 years. The masonry building is perhaps best known for being home to world-famous “Ernie’s” restaurant from 1942 to 1996, where in 1958, Alfred Hitchcock filmed part of the movie “Vertigo” starring Jimmy Stewart. In Spring 2007, with a new steel and concrete building at its core, the Jackson Square will be reborn as a San Francisco landmark.

The Jackson Square Historic District is the largest remnant of San Francisco’s historic Gold Rush-era business district, with some buildings in the district dating back to the early 1850s and 1860s. Known as the “Barbary Coast” in the 1870s, the district was home to commercial and retail establishments, saloons, and a wild nightlife befitting the Gold Rush waterfront district; however the area was decimated by the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. Post-fire and during Prohibition the district became a home for eating and drinking establishments, called “French Restaurants,” which thrived in the bohemian period of the 1920s and 1930s. By the 1950s, the district had changed again, beginning to gentrify as antique stores and designers began to occupy the local retail spaces.