The San Francisco Building Trades Council (BTC) was formed in February 1893 by several local unions of carpenters, plasterers, painters, cornice makers, and granite stone cutters to represent the interests of the city's construction trades workers. Under the 29-year reign (1893-1922) of its second president, P. H. McCarthy, the organization grew to considerable influence in San Francisco's vibrant labor movement and in the political realm. In 1908 the BTC affiliated with the Building and Construction Trades Department of the American Federation of Labor. At some point the name of the organization was changed to the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council.

The Trades Council was headquartered at 978 Mission Street when the 1906 earthquake struck. Its building demolished, the BTC authorized P. H. McCarthy to purchase land at the southwest corner of Guerrero and Fourteenth Streets in order to construct a Labor Temple. Plans were drawn up and ground was broken within six months. Incorporation papers for the San Francisco Building Trades Council's Temple Association were signed in June 1907 and the building was officially opened in April 1908 at a dedication ceremony attended by 10,000 people (Barons of Labor, page 102).

The block-long, three-story, steel and concrete structure, fronted by Ionic columns, represented status and equity for the BTC as it emerged as a major player in San Francisco's political scene. The building contained nine meeting halls, a 3,000 seat auditorium, offices for most BTC locals, recreation facilities, and employment services. The BTC had outgrown its space and had already expanded into offices on Market Street when the edifice was destroyed by fire in 1961.

The Temple Association financed the building through a combination of loans provided by local unions and the Anglo American Bank and through $5 membership certificates sold to members of affiliated building trades unions. By 1925, under the astute business leadership of W. H. Bemiss and George Newsom, the Temple Association's first two secretary-building managers, all bank debt had been repaid.

In 1942 the Temple Association board of directors voted "to transfer the control of this Association from individuals to local unions and building and construction trades councils." (Minutes, page 199)

The following is a list of Temple Association officials and their term of offices:

President: P.H. McCarthy 1907-1922 Larry Flaherty 1922-1926 John T. Burns 1926-1936 Frank McDonald 1936-1948 Jack Smith 1948- ?

Secretary: W. H. Bemiss 1907-1922 George Newsom 1922-1948 James (Jimmy) Newsom 1948- ?