Historic Landmarks of San Francisco

Begun in July 1853 and finished five months later, the Montgomery Block has been called the finest building in the West in the mid-1850s. It stood on the east side of its namesake street between Washington and Merchant. The four-story brick structure, designed by Gordon C. Cummings, had a base of gray granite and a cement asphalt roof. Safety features included walls three feet thick, diagonal iron ties for earthquake resistance, and iron shutters to protect against fires.

Affectionately, or derisively, called Monkey Block and Halleck's Folly, after Henry W. Halleck, one of the original owners and President Abraham Lincoln's Chief of Staff, the building cost from one-half to several million dollars. A bust of George Washington was displayed above the bronze entrance doors. The ground floor arcade housed 28 shops, including the famous Bank Exchange Saloon, opened in 1853. Offices on the floors above were occupied by some of the young state's leading lawyers, engineers, editors, and politicians. James King of William, editor of the Daily Evening Bulletin newspaper, had an office in the Montgomery Block, and was assassinated in the street in front of it.

After the Civil War the building became a center for artists, writers, and other bohemian types. Protected by its massive iron shutters, the Block survived the earthquake and fire of 1906 to become the new home of A.P. Gianinni's Bank of Italy, later renamed Bank of America. The old building was finally demolished in 1959.

The Montgomery Block site is now occupied by the celebrated and controversial Transamerica Pyramid. A state plaque commemorating the older building is mounted on a pillar in the northwest corner of the Pyramid lobby. This undated marker, visible from the sidewalk, was placed by the California State Park Commission and the Society of California Pioneers. Directly below the state plaque is a second tablet picturing the Montgomery Block.

The small plaque picturing the Montgomery Block is now located beneath the California State plaque. On an adjacent side of the same pillar is a plaque identifying the Montgomery Block as the second western terminus of the Pony Express. The first terminus is located across the street at the corner of Merchant and Montgomery and is commemorated by Historical Marker No. 696, Pony Express Headquarters Site.