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Overview

This important bank building, with its distinctive arcaded exterior, composed one of the cornerstones of San Francisco's Financial District during the last quarter of the 19th century. In 1878, it would have been one of the few all-masonry buildings in the city.

Building History

William Chapman Ralston's (1826-1875) original Bank of California location, stood on the northwest corner of California Street and Sansome Street in San Francisco, CA. (See San Francisco California City Directory, 1878, p. 922.) Ralston's bank had a storied history, financing some of the mining operations that constituted Nevada's Comstock Lode of the mid-1860s-early 1870s

Scottish-born architect David Farquharson (1827-1914) utilized the prevalent Italianate style for the bank's exterior, featuring two floors of arched Romanesque windows situated between engaged Tuscan columns and pilasters. (Supports on the California Street facade were doubled for emphasis, as this was the main entry.) It was a compressed version of the linear Library of Saint Mark, Venice, Italy, designed by Jacopo Sansovino (1486-1570) in 1536 and supervised by him and his successor, Vincenzo Scamozzi (1548-1616), between 1537 and 1588.

It was replaced after the Great Earthquake of 04/18/1906 by a Bliss and Faville design.

Building Notes

In 1899, the bank's offices were located on the second floor, while the first floor was devoted to the banking floor. Stairs to the second floor were located on the rear (north) side of the banking floor.

Demolition

The Italianate landmark was damaged in the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 04/18/1906 and razed completely during the same year. Another Bank of California Building occupied this site by 1908.

PCAD id: 988