National Register of Historic Places in San Francisco

National Register #78000754: Bank of Italy
26 June 2010
(Click Photo to Zoom)
National Register #78000754
Bank of Italy
552 Montgomery Street
Between Sacramento and Clay
Financial District
Built 1908 and 1931

The Bank of Italy Building is a National Landmark.

The National Register Statement of Significance reads:

From 1908 to 1921, this eight story, Second Renaissance Revival structure in San Francisco's financial district served as headquarters for Bank of Italy (later renamed Bank of America). Amadeo Peter Giannini (1870-1949), the son of Italian immigrants, built the tiny bank into one of the largest commercial banks in the world, and probably did more to democratize and popularize banks than any other individual.

The Bank of Italy was built on bay fill in Yerba Buena Cove at the spot where Captain J. B. Montgomery landed in 1846. The site, California Historical Landmark 81, is commemorated by a small plaque set in the base of the building at the corner of Montgomery and Clay Streets.

Other notable buildings which once stood at this intersection were the western headquarters of the Pony Express (California Historical Landmark 696) and the Montgomery Block (California Historical Landmark 80).

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