San Francisco’s Bay Bridge could soon have a tunnel named for the city’s most gloriously unconventional self-appointed ruler. A new state resolution would rename the Yerba Buena Tunnel the Emperor Norton Tunnel, giving Joshua Abraham Norton a permanent claim to a piece of the bridge he once imagined before it existed.
State Sen. Scott Wiener introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 193 yesterday, with Assemblymember Catherine Stefani as co-author, according to Wiener’s Office. The proposal comes as the Bay Bridge approaches its 90th anniversary and after years of lobbying by supporters who argue that Emperor Norton deserves more than a commemorative plaque or a downtown alley.
Emperor Norton Was More Than San Francisco’s Favorite Eccentric
Norton arrived in San Francisco as a successful businessman, made a fortune in real estate and imports, then lost it in the rice market and declared bankruptcy in 1856. He later printed his own money, which local businesses reportedly accepted, and proclaimed himself “Emperor of the United States” and “Protector of Mexico.” As detailed by the San Francisco Chronicle, Norton also called for a bridge connecting San Francisco and Oakland decades before the Bay Bridge opened. He was remembered not only for his grandiose proclamations but also for advocating inclusion of Chinese residents during a period of intense anti-Chinese hostility in California.
A 13-Year Campaign Finally Reaches Sacramento
The Emperor Norton Trust has spent 13 years pushing for the tunnel’s renaming, its founder, John Lumea, told the San Francisco Chronicle. The effort began with a 2013 online petition that collected about 7,000 signatures, followed by endorsements from groups including the Chinese Historical Society of America, the Imperial Council of San Francisco and California Lodge No. 1 of the Masons.
An earlier Hoodline look at the campaign described supporters’ broader goal of adding Norton’s name to the Bay Bridge without erasing the bridge’s existing designations. The latest resolution narrows that ambition to the 1936 tunnel linking the bridge’s San Francisco and East Bay sections.
The Name Change Would Start With A Price Tag
The resolution would ask the California Department of Transportation to determine the cost of installing new signs reflecting the proposed name. Those expenses would come from nonstate sources, meaning the resolution does not itself authorize a state-funded signage project.
For now, the structure remains the Yerba Buena Tunnel, a key part of the roughly 4.9-mile San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge complex, according to Caltrans information. But with the bridge’s anniversary approaching, Norton’s supporters have found an unusually well-timed opening to make their case: the man who once demanded a Bay crossing may finally get his name on one.
