Our Neighborhood

The San Francisco Historical Society and its Museum of San Francisco is located in the heart of the city’s Financial District at 608 Commercial Street, on the site of the first Branch Mint in the West. (1854–1877). The US Government purchased the building from a private assay and smelting operation to handle the massive amount of gold coming in from mines during the Gold Rush.) It became a Subtreasury in1877, when coin minting moved to the second SF mint at 5th and Mission Streets. During the 1906 earthquake and fire, the main floor and the brick vault underground survived the inferno and saved more than 13 million dollars in silver and gold. The district surrounding Commercial Street has served as the core of San Francisco’s business sector since the Gold Rush. Commercial Street is also the site of the Long Wharf, also called the Central Wharf, which housed dozens of Gold Rush-era ships and served as the main unloading station for goods coming by ship into San Francisco.
 

The Museum of San Francisco is both a city and a state historic landmark. It is situated where Chinatown, North Beach, the Barbary Coast, and the Financial District converge. Many other historic landmarks exist (or once existed)n nearby, including the site of the Hudson Bay Trading Company, the Pony Express office, the first Wells Fargo Bank, Domenico Ghirardelli’s chocolate factory, the What-Cheer House (California’s first free public library and museum), and U.S. Customs House. The central gathering place for early San Franciscans, Yerba Buena Plaza (now known as Portsmouth Square) is just around the corner from us. The plaza has served as San Francisco’s main assembly area since the days of Spanish rule.
 

Before or after your visit to the Museum, we encourage you to explore the neighborhood. The Museum of San Francisco is steps from Chinatown; a variety of historic restaurants in the Financial District; and the legendary streets of North Beach, where Beat poetry emerged. We offer both in-person and self-guided walking tours of the historic neighborhoods that converge at our museum, including The Barbary Coast, Chinatown, North Beach, Jackson Square, and the Financial District. The Gold Rush/Sunken Ships tour explores the places where Gold Rush ships are still buried beneath the streets of the Financial District.