Four years after California became a state in 1850, the United States Treasury erected the first branch mint in California to accommodate the gold flowing in from the Sierra. Although today's waterfront is more than a half mile east of this location, the mint originally stood only a few feet from the San Francisco Bay and the Long Wharf. The prospect from the intersection of Commercial and Montgomery was a forest of masts rather than today's bulwark of skyscrapers.

In 1875, the mint was moved to Fifth and Mission Streets (California Landmark 875) and this structure was rebuilt as a four-story, brick Subtreasury designed by William Appleton Potter. The 1906 Earthquake and Fire gutted the building, which was once again rebuilt, this time as a one-story, brick building.

The surviving structure was incorporated into the highrise Bank of Canton as the Pacific Heritage Museum with exhibits devoted to the history of the building and to the arts of Pacific Rim cultures.

To learn more about the colorful life of Count Agoston Haraszthy, the mint's first assayer and Father of Modern Viticulture in California, please see California Landmark 392, Buena Vista Winery and Vineyards.

The structure is also designated as San Francisco Landmark 34.

Points of historical interest associated with Portsmouth Plaza and Gold Rush San Francisco:

• California Star Newspaper Site
• Clay Street Hill Railroad Site
• First American Flag Raised in San Francisco
• First Public School in California
• First United States Branch Mint
• Jackson Square Historic District
• Jenny Lind Theatre and San Francisco City Hall Site
• Montgomery Block Site
• Pony Express Site
• Portsmouth Plaza
• Robert Louis Stevenson Remembrance