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Overview

New York-born US Army General Henry Wager Halleck commissioned the construction of the Montgomery Building in 1853, one of early San Francisco's best-known office blocks of the mid-century. In its early years, it became a magnet for the leading lawyers and businessmen working in the city. By 1900, however, it had fallen into some disrepair, but became a center for the bohemian arts community. This legendary office building stood for 106 years, surviving the Earthquake and Fire of 1906, but was torn down in 1959 and replaced by a parking lot for over a decade. It was listed as California State Historic Landmark #80.

The Transamerica Building #2 was built on its site in the early 1970s.

Building History

The scholar, lawyer, real estate investor, and prominent Union Army General Henry Wager Halleck (1815-1872) commissioned San Francisco architect G.P. Cummings to design a four-story, masonry office building that was to be the most fireproof and modern in San Francisco, CA, at this time. An expensive project, Halleck wanted the block to be fireproof and suitably appointed to attract well-heeled professionals as renters. To enhance its aesthetic, building materials were imported from across Europe. For many years, the building housed lawyers and financiers who directed the city's politics and banking. It remained a prestigious business address until later in the century, when professional men sought out newer buildings with updated lighting, electrical and plumbing features. Construction began in 07/1853 and was completed by 12/1853.

In 1854, Halleck owned the building with his three legal partners: John B. Peachy, Frederick Billings and Trenar W. Park. Halleck, Peachy, Billings and Park had its law offices in second-floor Rooms #72, 73, 74 and 75 in 1854. G.P. Cummings maintained his office in Room #123 on the fourth floor. (See "Appendix to Buildings—Montgomery Block," LeCount & Strong's San Francisco City Directory for the Year 1854, [San Francisco : Printed at the San Francisco Herald Office, 1854], p. 190.)

Soon after it opened in 1854, the building had quite a few retail storefront and office vacancies. Early storefront tenants included

A description of the Montgomery Block appeared in LeCount & Strong's San Francisco City Directory for the Year 1854, (p. 190). The text, likely either written following a consultation with architect Cummings or actually written by him, extolled the stout building's beauty: “This building is the largest and most tastefully finished on the Pacific Coast, and by its extent, solidity and architectural beauty, would attract attention in any city of the Union. It presents an unbroken facade three streets of 400 feet. The four stories of windows above the basement are large and airy, and rise over the principal one in diminished and graceful proportion, with architrave, cornice &c., to the frieze course of the building, which is marked by horizontal moulding and a beautiful frieze band, over which rises an elegant cornice, upon which all the taste and skill of the architect have been exhausted:—the whole terminating with an appropriate blocking course. The principal floor is striking by its support of pilasters with carved caps. The flat segmental arches of each opening are ornamented by a keystone bearing sculptured heads of real and imaginary characters, in semi-relievo. The main entrance to the building is on Montgomery street, and is a triumph of architectural beauty. The door-way is of cut stone;—the columns in alto-relievo, are of the Roman Doric, from the style of the Diocletian baths at Rome. The frieze is beautifully sculptured, and the sunk cornice is beautified by a number of rich ornaments,—the bronzed iron doors being surmounted by a head of Washington. Besides the 28 basement and first story stores, this immense pile contains nearly 150 offices in its several floors,—all of which are furnished with gas, grates, &c., and with water in every hall, from an Artesian well in the court; all the openings are provided with substantial iron shutters; the brick walls are of great solidity, built on piles and carefully anchored and tied. The architect, builder and director was Mr. G.P. Cummings. The whole edifice is a beautiful piece of Italian architecture, and has few rivals in the oldest settled countries.”

The building's stout proportions, masonry construction, iron shutters and other features were designed at a time of nearly constant fires in San Francisco. Several serious fires wrecked large portions of the city between 1850 and 1855. Cummings designed the building to be state of the art in terms of fire resistance.

By the 1890s, rental costs in the Montgomery Building had diminished, providing cheap studio and office space for indigent creative types. The building and its immediate neighbors became a center for San Francisco's bohemian set of artists and writers, many of whom frequented the Bank Exchange Bar (on the building's first floor) and other saloons and saunas in the area. The San Francisco Argonaut newspaper, which employed such hard-drinking writers as Ambrose Bierce (1842-c. 1913), Bret Harte (1836-1902), Frank Norris (1870-1902) and Jack London (1876-1916), had its offices in the building.

Building Notes

The lavish $3 million Washington Block, as it was known originally, occupied a shoreline location in 1853, its foundations submerged on tidal mudflats. The deep masonry foundations, excavated by Chinese laborers, rested on a bed of redwood logs bolted together. Built with Four stories high, it became the tallest building in the West when first erected. The building had a large rectangular footprint, with two light courts admitting daylight and fresh air into offices. Iron beams enabled the use of many more windows than most contemporary load-bearing masonry buildings, such as Parrott's Granite Block (1856). Masonry encased the iron framework, protecting it from fire. Architect Gordon P. Cummings (1809-1889) also fitted the Montgomery Block's windows with iron shutters to prevent the airborne spread of embers. So solid was its construction, that it survived the Great Earthquake of 04/18/1906, one of the few mid-19th century buildings to do so.

The four-floor Montgomery Block also had a basement and extended on 122 feet facing Montgomery Street. It had 138 feet on Washington Street and 138 on Merchant Street. It contained six storefronts on Montgomery Street, four on Washington and four on Merchant. The second floor accommodated 34 offices, the third floor, 45, the fourth floor, 45 and the basement, 14.

In 1861, the Saint Louis Gold and Silver Mining Company had its San Francisco office in Room #55 of the Montgomery Block. (See Saint Louis Gold and Silver Mining Company classified ad, Daily Alta California, vol. 13, no. 4244, 10/02/1861, p. 2.)

In 1861, William B. Cooke and Company, importers and makers of stationery, law and commercial books, occupied a space in the Montgomery Block. (See Cooke and Company advertisement, San Francisco Directory for the Year Commencing September, 1861, [San Francisco: Henry G. Langley, 1861], front cover.)

When it was formed in 1862, the San Francisco Stock and Exchange Board occupied space in the Montgomery Block. It continued to rent space in the Montgomery Block in 1869. (See San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1869, p. 134.)

In 1863, the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad occupied Room #73 in the Montgomery Building. The San Francisco and Alameda Railroad Company leased Room #77 in the same year. (See San Francisco City Directory, 1863, p. 316.)

During the 1860s, the civil/mining engineer and surveyor, Sherman Day, (1806-1884), had an office in Room #57 of the Montgomery Block.

The Society of California Pioneers hung an historical plaque on the Montgomery Block on 09/08/1955 about four years before its demolition. A lawyer who saved the building from being razed during the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, Oliver Petry Stidger, played a part in the dedication ceremony in 1955.

Demolition

The celebrated Montgomery Block was torn down in 1959. A parking lot replaced it initially, then, beginning, in 1971-1972, the Transamerica Pyramid occupied the site.