Pier 70
Pier 70, the oldest working civilian shipyard in the U.S, was built in 1850. It is the home and neighborhood of the Noonan Building. Since the mid 1800's, Pier 70 has built and repaired everything from small wooden fishing boats to major steel fabricated warships. For 150 years, the San Francisco shipyard has employed and trained thousands of workers from around the world. The workers even built the steel tubes for Bart that unite the East Bay and San Francisco.
The Noonan Building
The only surviving large, wood framed structure at Pier 70, the Noonan Building was built in 1941. For decades the Noonan Building, the little gem of the Pier 70 complex, has been the beloved second home of many San Francisco artists, including Frank Lobdell, one of the pioneers of Bay Area abstract expressionism. In this unique wooden building, tucked behind the still vibrant shipyard, artists, designers and fabricators make their work by hand. In the tradition of makers, whether the end product be ships, rope, paintings, photographs, film, print, sculpture, digital media, or beyond, the Noonan artists carry on the necessary calling to produce meaningful work.
The Noonan Building Artists are the current caretakers of the Noonan Building.