In a city known for skyrocketing real estate and retail prices, the Mechanics’ Institute, a literary oasis in the heart of downtown, might be the city’s best deal.
For just $120 a year — $10 a month — members get access to a lending library, workspace with Wi-Fi, and a calendar with a range of five to 15 events per week, many of which include free food and drink.
“It’s a lot cheaper than any coworking space,” says freelance software developer Keegan Leary, who has been a member of the institute for two years. He enjoys browsing the shelves and breaking up his work from home by hanging out with other people.
“It’s a hidden gem,” Leary said. “I love the old-fashioned feel.”
Rudi Miller agreed. On a recent Wednesday, the former New Yorker and UC Berkeley law student tried out the space for the first time — but she already knew she was going to participate.
“Other coworking spaces are too noisy and too expensive,” she said. “I like the quiet here and the events look fun.”
But despite its appeal, most people don’t even know the Mechanics’ Institute exists – or what it is exactly.
According to Senior Director of Programs and Alyssa Stone, more than half of those surveyed on a public tour of the historic nine-story building, which takes place every Wednesday at 12 p.m., did not know it existed, despite living in San Francisco all their lives have community involvement.
“We’re a hidden gem,” Stone said.
However, the treasure behind the doors of 57 Post St. is about much more than affordability. And while the concept of a library may seem exclusive to members only, it is an integral part of The Mechanics’ Institute’s more than century-and-a-half-old mission to be accessible to all.
The library is on the second floor of the Mechanics’ Institute pictured Friday. | Isaac Ceja/The Standard
Always open to everyone
When the Mechanics’ Institute opened in 1854, a mechanic wasn’t someone who had their head under the hood of a car.
“The word mechanics came into general use in the 19th century to describe people who made things,” said Taryn Edwards, a former librarian at the Institute who worked there for over 15 years. “You could be a butcher, baker, candle maker and be considered a mechanic.”
The Mechanics’ Institute was founded in the City of San Francisco’s Tax Assessor’s Office because it was a non-religious, non-political space, and was intended to be an educational and training institution.
“There have been no barriers to entry since our earliest years,” Stone said. “Anyone can become a member regardless of immigration, race, ethnicity, gender, age, financial background or family background. From our earliest days, women were always welcome.”
A person reads a book in the Mechanics’ Institute library on Friday. | Isaac Ceja/The Standard
This was unusual then, when many clubs and memberships—like the Bohemian Club, the Olympic Club, and the Family Club—were open only to men and remain so today (the San Francisco Italian American Club is also male-only).
The organization was part of a larger social movement, a reaction to the Industrial Revolution aimed at improving the livelihoods and rights of the working class. In England alone, in 1854, the year the San Francisco branch was founded, there were around 800 Mechanics’ Institutes.
Operated as independent entities, there were then manuals with instructions on how to set up your own mechanics institute.
Typically, the institutes consisted of three components: a library, a lecture hall and a game room – for the San Francisco Mechanics’ Institute this game has always been chess. While many of these institutes have since closed or been converted into entities with other names, our own Gold Rush-era branch is strong, though it has undergone numerous upheavals – including the burn down.
“Our mission is to serve writers, chess players, readers, thinkers, the curious and movie lovers,” Stone said. “We are there for people’s interests and to be able to provide them with information.”
The spiral staircase at the Mechanics’ Institute Library near Union Square is popular on Instagram. | Isaac Ceja/The Standard
A hidden loot
The folks who know about the Mechanics’ Institute stop by to take photos of its spiral staircase—possibly the most Instagrammed staircase in all of San Francisco.
According to Stone, the sweeping staircase is the tallest in the country. It was manufactured on the east coast before the building opened in 1910 and then shipped around Cape Horn to be assembled at the library.
“The stairs are very, very popular on our tours,” Stone said.
The metal grid on the spiral staircase bears an image that is repeated throughout the institute: a key that symbolizes the development of knowledge. The motif looks like a square lollipop and is repeated on tiled floors and hanging lamps.
The institute’s knowledge should not only be made accessible in books, but also in leisure time – namely chess. The building houses the oldest continuously active chess club in the country. When Vinay Bhat achieved Grandmaster status in 2008, he was the youngest person ever to hold the title – and he learned to play chess at Mechanics’ Institute.
People play chess at the Mechanics’ Institute near Union Square in San Francisco on Friday. | Isaac Ceja/The Standard
Bhat recently returned to the institute to publish his book How I Became a Chess Grandmaster, which is full of pictures of him playing chess at the Mechanics’ Institute.
The event also included the Summer Blitz tournament; The room was full of chess players, including two grandmasters.
Among the institute’s other gems is an 1853 survey map of San Francisco that survived the 1906 fire. It’s one of only a handful of maps in the world and is now hanging on the second floor.
“The only reason it survived is because it was in a safe,” Stone said. “Everything else around it was destroyed.”
The building also has offices for rent. The Litquake literary festival and Zzzyva literary magazine have their offices there, as well as several lawyers and doctors, and an organization called the International Wizard of Oz Club.
“I can’t think of a better place for an office,” Stone said. “Those beautiful high ceilings with huge windows looking out over the city.”
An 1853 map of San Francisco hangs in the Mechanics’ Institute library near Union Square on Friday. | Isaac Ceja/The Standard
The more things change
Given that the organization has endured quite a lot of struggles in its century-and-a-half history, the Mechanics’ Institute could have a lesson for us—and for downtown San Francisco.
A climate of fear reigned in downtown San Francisco in 1856 following the assassination of publisher James King of William, who was killed by James Casey, a member of the board of directors. The murder led to the creation of the Second Vigilance Committee in San Francisco.
“That was not a joke; That’s why people have moved out of the city,” Edwards said. “Namely Roderick Matheson, President of the Mechanics’ Institute, who was concerned about raising his children in such a violent environment.”
Matheson moved out of town—to Healdsburg.
The fire that followed the great earthquake of 1906 burned the original institute to the ground, but the library continued to grow and improve, in part by purchasing materials the city needed for the massive rebuilding – like books on engineering and masonry .
“That’s how we pulled ourselves up,” Edwards said. “With the goal of helping the city rebuild.”
The President of the Mechanics’ Institute, Roderick Matheson, is pictured circa 1849. | Healdsburg Museum/Wikipedia/Creative Commons
The institute was only closed for a few days during the Great Flu of 1918—our current pandemic was far more catastrophic. The Second World War was another difficult period in the Institute’s history.
“There were restrictions on night-time activities for fear of air raids,” Edwards said, and employees and customers were drafted into the war effort.
With big-name retailers moving out of downtown, much vacant office space and deteriorating downtown safety, will the Mechanics’ Institute, just a stone’s throw from the Montgomery Street BART station, survive this recent downturn? It’s hard not to be surprised, especially given the recent departure of the organization’s CEO. But just like San Francisco’s phoenix rising from the dust, the organization has endured boom-and-bust cycles before.
“We’re here to serve the community,” Stone said when asked about the organization’s future. “And we will continue to serve the community.”
