One of San Francisco’s oldest buildings, the modern-day Officers’ Club was part of the original Spanish Presidio constructed in the late eighteenth century. Adobe walls dating to the 1790’s were incorporated into the front wings of the building when it was first rebuilt by the army around 1847. Though legend has it this adobe was the "Comandancia" (headquarters) of the Spanish-Mexican post, this claim has not been historically verified. In any event, the structure was used from the beginning of the American military’s occupation of the Presidio; early additions also included a wooden pavilion-like assembly room (the Moraga room today) completed in 1885. During the 1930’s, funding from the Works Progress Administration led to the remodeling of the building to include Mission Revival style elements. In the process, substantial remnants of the historic adobe walls were enclosed in lath and plaster and still compose much of the front portion of the building.

Today’s Officers’ Club is the culmination of the many styles, building materials, and historical epochs that have graced the Presidio’s past. Though measuring a modest 188’ x 119’, the building boasts a complex mixture of adobe, concrete, wood-frame, and steel frame components. More recent renovations have continued the use of rustic Spanish-tile gable roofs, heavy rough timber lintels and beams, and decorative iron work that characterize early Spanish colonial architecture. The result is one of the Presidio’s most historic and aesthetically pleasing buildings.

Today, the Officers' Club is the temporary home of the National Park Service Visitor Center at the Presidio and often hosts traveling cultural exhibits. The Presidio Trust also rents rooms in the historic building for special events.

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