These are the buildings, sites and monuments of San Francisco’s Gold Rush and banking history, photographed on the street. Many of the bank buildings date from 1904 to 1924, but the firms and sites behind them go back to the 1850s.
Where a building is an official San Francisco Designated Landmark, its number is given.
Original Gold Rush landmarks
Jackson Square
The earliest surviving commercial area in San Francisco, with buildings from the 1850s and 1860s. During the Gold Rush it was known as Sydney Town. The district’s National Register nomination names the buried ships Niantic and Apollo as lying beneath its buildings. William T. Sherman and Domingo Ghirardelli both had property or business here. Osgood Place, once known as Littler Italy, had Italian boarding houses and bars.
Jackson Square Historic District No. 1 · National Register of Historic Places No. 71000186
Jackson Square, Osgood Place and nearby streets
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Phelan Building, Market Street
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Phelan Building
James Phelan Sr., an Irish immigrant, made his first fortune selling provisions to miners rather than mining. He made a profit of about $100,000 in 1849 and later founded the First National Bank of San Francisco. His story shows how much of the city’s Gold Rush money came from supplying the miners.
760–784 Market St · San Francisco Designated Landmark No. 156
Site of Sherman’s bank
Lucas, Turner & Co. was the bank of William T. Sherman. It came through the financial crisis of 1855. The building is gone, but a bronze plaque marks the site.
800–804 Montgomery St · San Francisco Designated Landmark No. 26 · California Registered Landmark No. 453
Lucas, Turner & Co. at a glance
1853, San Francisco branch established
Spring 1854, moves into its own building at Jackson and Montgomery
1855, survives the financial crisis
1857, closes
January 17, 1950, plaque dedicated
Lotta’s Fountain
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Lotta’s Fountain
Given to the city in 1875 by Lotta Crabtree, a child performer of the Gold Rush era. A bronze medallion on the fountain shows miners panning for gold.
Market, Geary and Kearny streets · San Francisco Designated Landmark No. 73
Life of the people
Mechanics’ Institute
Founded in 1854 by the city’s tradesmen and mechanics, it is San Francisco’s oldest library and still operates today. It is one of the civic institutions that working people built in the Gold Rush years.
57–65 Post St · San Francisco Designated Landmark No. 134
At a glance
1854, founded by tradesmen and mechanics
Today, San Francisco’s oldest library, still operating
Jack’s, Sacramento Street
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Jack’s
Built in 1863 and opened in 1864, this is the second-oldest restaurant in San Francisco. It belongs to the Comstock era rather than the Gold Rush itself. It reopened in November 2025.
615 Sacramento St · San Francisco Designated Landmark No. 146
Banking and stock exchanges
Merchants Exchange
The third building on this site, completed in 1904 by Burnham & Polk, with interiors by Julia Morgan. Inside are Coulter’s original 1906 maritime murals and a framed 1903 print of the exchange and its prominent members.
465 California St
Merchants Exchange, California Street
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Bank of California Building, California Street
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Bank of California
Founded in 1864 by William Ralston and Darius Mills, the bank financed the Comstock Lode silver boom. The building on California Street dates from 1908.
400 California St · San Francisco Designated Landmark No. 3
Bank of Italy
Built in 1908 by Frank T. Shea, this was the headquarters of the Bank of Italy from 1908 to 1921, where Giannini launched branch banking. It stands on the site of Captain J. B. Montgomery’s 1846 landing.
550 Montgomery St
Bank of Italy Building, Montgomery Street
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1 Montgomery Street, the former Crocker bank
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1 Montgomery Street
Designed by Willis Polk and built in 1908 as the First National Bank, it became Crocker National Bank in 1925. It was a Wells Fargo branch until 2019 and is now owned by the record label Empire.
1–25 Montgomery St · San Francisco Designated Landmark No. 297
744 Market and 1 Grant Avenue
A matched pair of 1910 banks. 744 Market was the Union Trust building by Clinton Day, still a working bank, with an “Established 1852” plaque. 1 Grant Avenue, by Bliss & Faville, was the Savings Union Bank and is now vacant.
744 Market St · Landmark No. 131 · 1 Grant Ave · Landmark No. 132
744 Market and 1 Grant Avenue
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Old Federal Reserve Bank, Sansome Street
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Old Federal Reserve Bank
Designed by George Kelham and finished in 1924, it is the former home of the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco.
400 Sansome St · San Francisco Designated Landmark No. 158
Pacific Coast Stock Exchange
A neoclassical stock exchange building, renovated in 1930 by Miller & Pflueger. It now houses a fitness club.
301 Pine St
Pacific Coast Stock Exchange, Pine Street
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Within each section, entries run in date order. Landmark numbers follow the official San Francisco Designated Landmarks list. California Registered Landmark No. 453 is taken from the plaque at the Lucas, Turner & Co. site. Buildings shown without a number have not been confirmed as designated.
