John W. Reid Jr.

John W. Reid Jr. was born on December 26, 1879, in San Francisco, California.

He studied architecture at the University of California, Berkeley under John Galen Howard, and then continued at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

[3] Upon his return, he joined Daniel Burnham's firm, where he worked as a draftsman for architect Willis Polk.

He served as city architect during the tenure of mayor (later governor) James Rolph, who was married to Reid's sister.

Reid was a consulting architect for the San Francisco Civic Center, including the San Francisco City Hall, and best known for his designs of city schools and libraries, the San Francisco Fire Chief's House, and the Union Iron Works Turbine Machine Shop.