PCAD - Bank of British Columbia, Branch, Financial District, San Francisco, CA

Advertisement for the Bank of British Columbia, San Francisco, 1869; from the San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1869, Advertising Section, p. xlix

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California Street and Sansome Street
Financial District, San Francisco 94104

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The Bank of British Columbia stood on the southeast corner of California and Sansome Streets from at least 1869 until 1878.

Overview

Both Northern CA and British Columbia saw gold rushes, the former had one that began in 1848 and, the latter, ten years later. After some of the best gold fields had been exhausted in the northern CA by the early 1850s, many miners travelled north to try their luck placer mining in southern OR (c. 1852), Fort Colville, WA, (c.1855), and the rich Fraser River, BC, gold strike (c. 1858-1860). The Bank of British Columbia was founded just after these rich British Columbia strikes in 1862.

By 1892, the bank had several branches in the US and Canada, including those in San Francisco, CA, Portland, OR, Tacoma, WA, Seattle, WA, Victoria, BC, Vancouver, BC, New Westminster, BC, Nanaimo, BC, Kamloops, BC, and Nelson, BC.

Building Notes

In 1892, the bank had $3 million in capital paid up, with a surplus of $1,250,000. (See Bank of British Columbia advertisement, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 10/02/1892, Page 15.

PCAD id: 20479

Bank of British Columbia, Branch, Financial District, San Francisco, CA demolished