Historic Landmarks of San Francisco

At 498 Jackson Street, corner of Montgomery Street, stands the building once occupied by the bank of Lucas, Turner and Company. From 1854 to 1857 William Tecumseh Sherman was employed here as the firm's resident partner. Sherman had previously served in California in 1847 as Lieutenant to Governor Richard B. Mason. The bank was capitalized at $300,000, and after one year had accumulated $500,000 in deposits.

Sherman, who was salaried at $5,000 a year, was a wise and successful banker. Under his guidance the firm's San Francisco branch weathered the crash of 1854-55. Sherman opposed the Vigilance Committee of 1856. He was appointed Major General of the state militia at that time by Governor J. Neely Johnson, a post he later resigned from. Sherman left the City in 1857, not to return until after the Civil War and then as a famous man.

Sherman's bank still stands at the northeast corner of Jackson and Montgomery. The plain, two-story brick building now houses a bookstore and is part of the Jackson Square Historic District. A bronze state marker, placed by the California Centennial Commission and the Society of California Pioneers January 17, 1950, is mounted at the southwest corner of the building, facing Jackson Street.

498 Jackson Street now houses medical offices rather than a bookstore. William Stout Architectural Books, around the corner at 804 Montgomery, is highly recommended.