The San Francisco Stock and Bond Exchange was founded in 1882 to facilitate financial trades associated with the Comstock Lode. The Los Angeles Oil Exchange was founded in 1889.

In 1956, the two exchanges merged to create the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange (PCX). It was renamed Pacific Stock Exchange in 1973, and in 1997, the name was shortened to Pacific Exchange. At its height, the Pacific Exchange was trading more than 2,700 stocks, bonds and other securities on trading floors in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The Pacific Exchange was among the first exchanges to automate in 1969 by using computers on the floor to complete some trades. The exchange sold its equity trading business in 2000 and closed the Los Angeles floor in 2001 and the San Francisco floor in 2002.

When we photographed the building, it housed a gym.

The building was originally a United States Treasury building designed by Milton Dyer in the neoclassical style and built in 1915.

It was remodeled by Miller & Pflueger in 1930. At this point in his career, Pflueger's designs were influenced by the art deco moderne style. The ten Tuscan columns are the only classical elements retained in the remodeled facade.

The art deco figures carved in Yosemite granite are by Ralph Stackpole.