Old St. Mary's and Emperor Norton

Look up at the clock on the tower. Beneath it you'll see the words «Son, observe the time and fly from evil». They are not there by chance.

1A cathedral facing the brothels

Old St. Mary's was built in 1853 and 1854, at the height of the Gold Rush, by Chinese laborers, with granite cut in China and brick brought in by ship. It was the first church in California built as a cathedral. Across the street, what was then Dupont Street was lined with brothels and gambling halls, and the inscription under the clock was aimed, quite openly, at the men heading their way. In 1906 the fire gutted the church and melted its bells, but the walls held.

2His Majesty Norton I

On this very corner, on the evening of January 8, 1880, the city's best-loved character collapsed. Joshua Abraham Norton, a ruined merchant, had proclaimed himself «Emperor of these United States» in 1859 in a letter to a newspaper. San Francisco played along: papers printed his decrees, some restaurants accepted his banknotes, and he strolled about in uniform and saber inspecting streets and streetcars. He ordered Congress dissolved and called for a bridge across the bay, which was finally built decades later.

Thousands filed past his body. The story of the two dogs, Bummer and Lazarus, who supposedly followed him everywhere, belongs to legend: it grew out of the cartoons of the day.

3What to look for

• The inscription under the clock, in gold letters.
• The corner of California and Grant, where Norton fell.
• The California Street cable car tracks, running right past the church.