Namesake | John B. Montgomery |
---|---|
Length | 1.0 mi (1.6 km) |
Location | San Francisco |
Coordinates | 37°47′43″N122°24′11″W / 37.79528°N 122.40306°W |
North end | Telegraph Hill |
South end | Market Street |
Montgomery Street is a north-south thoroughfare in San Francisco, California, in the United States.
It runs about 16 blocks from the Telegraph Hill neighborhood south through downtown, terminating at Market Street. South of Columbus Avenue, Montgomery Street runs through the heart of San Francisco's Financial District and contains one of the highest concentrations of financial activity, investment business, and venture capital in the United States and the world. For this reason, it is known as "the Wall Street of the West". [1] [2] South of Market Street, the street continues as New Montgomery Street for two more blocks to terminate at Howard Street in the SOMA district.
In the 1830s, the land which is now Montgomery Street lay at the edge of San Francisco Bay. [3] [4] Intense land speculation during the Gold Rush created a demand for more usable land in the rapidly growing city, and sandy bluffs near the waterfront were leveled and the shallows filled with sand (and the ruins of many ships) to make new building lots. Between 1849 and 1852, the waterfront advanced about four blocks. [5] At present, Montgomery Street is about seven blocks from the water.
The corner of Montgomery and Clay is where John B. Montgomery landed when he came to hoist the U.S. flag after the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846. In 1853 the Montgomery Block, a center of early San Francisco law and literature, was built at 600 Montgomery, on land currently occupied by the Transamerica Pyramid. [4]
Many banks and financial-services companies have had offices in the buildings on or near Montgomery Street, especially between Market Street and Sacramento Street:
Notable high-rises and skyscrapers along Montgomery Street in the Financial District:
A building bearing the name of One Montgomery Tower is located at the intersection of Post and Kearny streets, behind the Wells Fargo flagship branch and Crocker Galleria.
Montgomery Street is served by the BART and Muni Metro Montgomery Street Station. [11]
The Transamerica Pyramid is a pyramid-shaped 48-story modernist skyscraper in San Francisco, California, United States, and the second tallest building in the San Francisco skyline. Located at 600 Montgomery Street between Clay and Washington Streets in the city's Financial District, it was the tallest building in San Francisco from its completion in 1972 until 2018 when the newly-constructed Salesforce Tower surpassed its height. The building no longer houses the headquarters of the Transamerica Corporation, which moved its U.S. headquarters to Baltimore, Maryland. The building is still associated with the company by being depicted on the company's logo. Designed by architect William Pereira and built by Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company, the building stands at 853 feet (260 m). On completion in 1972 it was the eighth-tallest building in the world. It is also a popular tourist site. In 2020, the building was sold to NYC investor Michael Shvo, who in 2022 hired Norman Foster to redesign the interiors and renovate the building.
555 California Street, formerly Bank of America Center, is a 52-story 779 ft (237 m) skyscraper in San Francisco, California. It is the fourth tallest building in the city as of February 2021, and in 2013 was the largest by floor area. Completed in 1969, the tower was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River until the completion of the Transamerica Pyramid in 1972, and the world headquarters of Bank of America until the 1998 merger with NationsBank, when the company moved its headquarters to the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is currently owned by Vornado Realty Trust and The Trump Organization.
The Transamerica Corporation is an American holding company for various life insurance companies and investment firms operating primarily in the United States, offering life and supplemental health insurance, investments, and retirement services. The company has major offices located in Baltimore, Maryland; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Denver, Colorado; Canton, Massachusetts; Harrison, New York; Knoxville, Tennessee; Plano, Texas; St. Paul, Minnesota and St. Petersburg, Florida. Additional affiliated offices are located throughout the United States. In 1999, it became an independent subsidiary of multinational company Aegon.
The Embarcadero is the eastern waterfront of Port of San Francisco and a major roadway in San Francisco, California. It was constructed on reclaimed land along a three mile long engineered seawall, from which piers extend into the bay. It derives its name from the Spanish verb embarcar, meaning "to embark"; embarcadero itself means "the place to embark." The Central Embarcadero Piers Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 20, 2002.
The Financial District is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, United States, that serves as its main central business district and had 372,829 jobs according to U.S. census tracts as of 2012-2016. It is home to the city's largest concentration of corporate headquarters, law firms, insurance companies, real estate firms, savings and loan banks, and other financial institutions. Multiple Fortune 500 companies headquartered in San Francisco have their offices in the Financial District, including Wells Fargo, Salesforce, Uber, Gap, and Williams-Sonoma.
Mission Street is a north-south arterial thoroughfare in Daly City and San Francisco, California that runs from Daly City's southern border to San Francisco's northeast waterfront. The street and San Francisco's Mission District through which it runs were named for the Spanish Mission Dolores, several blocks away from the modern route. Only the southern half is historically part of El Camino Real, which connected the missions. Part of Mission Street in Daly City is signed as part of State Route 82.
Kearny Street in San Francisco, California runs north from Market Street to The Embarcadero. Toward its south end, it separates the Financial District from the Union Square and Chinatown districts. Further north, it passes over Telegraph Hill, interrupted by a gap near Coit Tower.
Market Center, formerly known as the Standard Oil Buildings and later the Chevron Towers, is a complex comprising two skyscrapers at 555–575 Market Street in the Financial District of downtown San Francisco, California. It served as the headquarters of the Chevron Corporation until 2001. As of 2021, it is owned by Paramount Group, Inc.
44 Montgomery is a 43-story, 172 m (564 ft) office skyscraper in the heart of San Francisco's Financial District. Groundbreaking was in the spring of 1964. When completed in 1967, it was the tallest building west of Dallas, surpassed by 555 California Street in 1969. The building was designed, built and dedicated for Wells Fargo Bank, and their IT subsidiary was based there at one time.
100 Light Street is a 40-story, 528 ft (161 m) skyscraper completed in 1973 in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. It occupies the city block bounded by South Charles, East Lombard, Light and East Pratt Streets. It is the tallest building in Baltimore and in Maryland.
345 California Center is a 48-story office tower in the financial district of San Francisco, California. Completed in 1986, the 211.8 m (695 ft) tower is the fifth tallest in the city after the Salesforce Tower, Transamerica Pyramid, 181 Fremont, and 555 California Street if the spires are included. It was originally proposed to be 30 m (98 ft) taller. The building was developed by Norland Properties, a private real estate investment firm led by Hany Ben-Halim.
100 Montgomery Street, also known as the Equitable Life Building, is an office tower located in the financial district of San Francisco, California. The 354-foot (108 m), 25-floor tower was completed in 1955 and served as headquarters to the Equitable Life Insurance Company.
California Street is a major thoroughfare in San Francisco, California. It is one of the longest streets in San Francisco, and includes a number of important landmarks. It runs in an approximately straight 5.2 mi (8.4 km) east–west line from the Financial District to Lincoln Park in the far northwest corner of the city.
Columbus Avenue is one of the major streets of San Francisco that runs diagonally through the North Beach and Chinatown areas of San Francisco, California, from Washington and Montgomery Streets by the Transamerica Pyramid to Beach Street near Fisherman's Wharf. This street is home to several notable venues, such as Jack Kerouac Alley, named for poet Jack Kerouac, City Lights Bookstore, Vesuvio Cafe, Specs' Twelve Adler Museum Cafe, and Bimbo's 365 Club.
John R. Beckett (1918–2010), an American businessman, was president and chairman of the board of Transamerica Corp. from 1960 to 1983.
Commercial Street is a street in San Francisco, California that runs from Sansome Street to Grant Avenue.
New Montgomery Street, formerly Montgomery Street South, begins at Market Street and terminates at Howard Street in the SOMA district of San Francisco, California.
The Montgomery Block, also known as Monkey Block and Halleck's Folly, was a historic building active from 1853 to 1959, and was located in San Francisco, California. It was San Francisco's first fireproof and earthquake resistant building. It came to be known as a Bohemian center, from the late 19th to the middle of the 20th-century.