San Francisco - Bank of California

The Bank of California is the oldest bank on the West coast. Its buildings in San Francisco have always been noted for their architectural merit.

The first, erected in 1867 on the site occupied today by the Bank's latest shrine to Mammon, was Neo-Renaissance in style and was pulled down just before the earthquake of 1906. The second, which still stands on the corner of Sansome Street, took the form of a Corinthian temple, with pillars of California granite on two sides.

Rising alongside it, at 420 California Street, is the bank's most recent head office. Constructed in 1967, great importance was attached to preserving and harmonizing with the earlier gray granite building. The "Museum of Money of the American West" is housed