Building History

This brick warehouse, likely erected in 1849 or 1850, escaped the catastrophic San Francisco Fire of 05/03-04/1851 that vaporized much of the city's business district. A mention of the warehouse was located in an article about the Niantic, the beached ship that became reused as a building for two years: "The short space of ten hours saw from fifteen hundred to two thousand buildings completely ruined. Eighteen squares, with portions of five or six others in the very heart of the city were devastated. Only five or six brick buildings still stood on Montgomery Street, while on Sansome Street, the DeWitt & Harrison Warehouse was saved because eighty thousand gallons of vinegar were used for its protection!" (See "The Ship 'Niantic' in California," Quarterly of the Society of California Pioneers, vol. VI, no. 3, 10/1929, pp. 141-143.)

PCAD id: 25837