In 1916 , the first Chinatown YWCA branch was established in a former saloon at Stockton and Sacramento ; the San Francisco YWCA passed a resolution in October 1929 to build a new facility on three adjacent lots bounded by Joice , Clay , and Powell . Noted architect Julia Morgan was contracted to design the now-historic building , and after consultation with Chinese-Americans , included cultural elements from Chinese arts and crafts . The building housed the Chinatown branch of the YWCA from 1932 until it was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake ; the board of the YWCA decided to sell the building to the CHSA in 1996 with the help of Supervisor Tom Hsieh and Mayor Willie Brown
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
Chinese Historical Society of America