SAN FRANCISCO - GC : USA - CA

*Location:

   North Tower 
   Grace Cathedral (Episcopal) 
   Taylor Street at California Street
   San Francisco, California, USA
   LL: N 37.79198, W 122.41304
*Original Location (most bells,1939-41): 
   Tower of the Sun 
   Golden Gate Exposition
Site locator map or [ MapQuest map ]
Also see our own Map Use Hints.

*Player:

   John Fenstermaker 
   T: (415)776-6611

*Contact:

   Grace Cathedral
   1051 Taylor Street 
   San Francisco, CA  94108-2209
   T: (415)745-6300   F: (415)745-6301
   E: congregation@gracecathedral.org

*Schedule:

  (unknown)

*Technical data: 

   Electric-keyboard carillon of 44 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell (excluding sub-bourdon) is C  in the middle octave
   Transposition is nil (concert pitch)
   Keyboard range: (G) C G   /    NONE  
   There is one missing bass semitone
   There is no practice console
   The whole instrument was installed in 1943
     with bells made by Gillett & Johnston
   Year of latest technical information source is 1971

*Links:

The Cathedral Website has an evening photo of the façade on the home page, and includes a virtual tour of the building with a view from the fléche; you can see part of carillon in the belfry (if you have QuickTime installed).  Elsewhere you can find a night photo taken in 1943, when the tower was complete but the adjoining nave was not.  Be sure to visit the Tales from the Crypt to find an article about the bells.

A photo (82KB) of the bell tower from the west

A photo of the building and its twin towers accompanies the report of a visitor; the frame of the carillon is clearly visible in the north (right) tower belfry.

Building photos from Emporis Buildings
(Also see our Emporis Advice.)

Where this work lies in the sequence of output of the Gillett & Johnston bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.

Ranking among all North American non-traditional carillons by weight.
Ranking among all North American non-traditional carillons by size (number of bells).

Index to all tower bell instruments in CA.

*Status: 

   This page was built from the database on  3-Feb-07
   based on textual data last updated on 2007/01/22
   and on technical data last updated on 1975/07/20

Explanations of page format and keyboard range are available.

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