Montgomery Street is a north-south thoroughfare in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, in the United States. It runs about 16 blocks from the

Telegraph Hill A telegraph hill is a hill or other natural elevation that is chosen as part of an optical telegraph system. Telegraph Hill may also refer to: England * A high point in the Haldon Hills, Devon * Telegraph Hill, Dorset, a hill in the Dorset Down ...

neighborhood south through

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

, terminating at

Market Street Market Street may refer to: *Market Street, Cambridge, England *Market Street, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia * Market Street, George Town, Penang, Malaysia *Market Street, Manchester, England *Market Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia ...

. South of Columbus Avenue, Montgomery Street runs through the heart of San Francisco's

Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...

and contains one of the highest concentrations of financial activity, investment business, and venture capital in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and the world. For this reason, it is known as "the

Wall Street of the West Wall Street West is a name used by real estate developers, city officials and news media in the United States to call particular streets or places west of Manhattan that have a high concentration of Wall Street companies or a major exchange. The m ...

". South of Market Street, the street continues as

New Montgomery Street New Montgomery Street, formerly Montgomery Street South, begins at Market Street and terminates at Howard Street in the SOMA district of San Francisco, California. History Before New Montgomery Street was created, an inner street called ''Jane Str ...

for two more blocks to terminate at Howard Street in the

SOMA Soma may refer to: Businesses and brands * SOMA (architects), a New York–based firm of architects * Soma (company), a company that designs eco-friendly water filtration systems * SOMA Fabrications, a builder of bicycle frames and other bicycle ...

district.

History

In the 1830s, the land which is now Montgomery Street lay at the edge of

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...

. Intense

land speculation In finance, speculation is the purchase of an asset (a commodity, goods, or real estate) with the hope that it will become more valuable shortly. (It can also refer to short sales in which the speculator hopes for a decline in value.) Many s ...

during the

Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

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. At present, Montgomery Street is about seven blocks from the water. The corner of Montgomery and Clay is where

John B. Montgomery John Berrien Montgomery (1794 – March 25, 1872) was an officer in the United States Navy who rose up through the ranks, serving in the War of 1812, Mexican–American War and the American Civil War, performing in various capacities including the ...

landed when he came to hoist the

U.S. flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...

after the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846. In 1853 the

Montgomery Block 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 ...

, a center of early San Francisco law and literature, was built at 600 Montgomery, on land currently occupied by the

Transamerica Pyramid The Transamerica Pyramid is a 48-story futurist 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 ci ...

Offices

Many banks and financial-services companies have had offices in the buildings on or near Montgomery Street, especially between Market Street and Sacramento Street: * The world headquarters of

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

are at 420 Montgomery. *

555 California Street 555 California Street, formerly Bank of America Center, is a 52-story 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 ...

, between Kearny and Montgomery, served as

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...

's world headquarters prior to its merger with

NationsBank NationsBank was one of the largest banking corporations in the United States, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company named NationsBank was formed through the merger of several other banks in 1991, and prior to that had been through mul ...

and was (from 1969 to 2005) officially called the Bank of America Building. * The

(600 Montgomery, at Columbus Avenue) was the headquarters of

Transamerica Corporation 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. ...

and still appears in the company's logo. *

Melvin Belli Melvin Mouron Belli (July 29, 1907 – July 9, 1996) was a prominent United States lawyer, writer, and actor known as "The King of Torts" and by insurance companies as "Melvin Bellicose". He had many celebrity clients, including Zsa Zsa Gab ...

, lawyer known as "The King of Torts", had his offices at the ''Belli Building'' at 722-724 Montgomery St. Belli used to raise a

Jolly Roger Jolly Roger is the traditional English name for the flags flown to identify a pirate ship preceding or during an attack, during the early 18th century (the later part of the Golden Age of Piracy). The flag most commonly identified as the Jolly ...

and fire a cannon every time he won a case. *

Bank of the West Bank of the West is an American financial institution headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States. It is a subsidiary of the French international banking group BNP Paribas and has more than 600 branches and offices in the Midwes ...

is headquartered at 180 Montgomery Street. * , at 130 Montgomery Street.

High-rises

Notable high-rises and skyscrapers along Montgomery Street in the Financial District: * 44 Montgomery * Hunter-Dulin Building (111 Sutter at Montgomery) *

100 Montgomery Street 100 Montgomery Street, also known as the Equitable Life Building, is an office tower located in the financial district of San Francisco, California. The , 25-floor tower was completed in 1955 and served as headquarters to the Equitable Life Insu ...

* 101 Montgomery * 180 Montgomery Street *

Russ Building __NOTOC__ The Russ Building is a Neo-Gothic office tower located in the Financial District of San Francisco, California. It was designed by architect George W. Kelham, who was responsible for many of San Francisco's other prominent high-rise buil ...

(235 Montgomery) * Commercial Union Assurance Building (315 Montgomery) *

456 Montgomery Plaza 456 Montgomery Plaza is a , 26-story class-A office skyscraper on Montgomery Street in the Financial District of San Francisco, California. History 456 Montgomery, completed in August 1985, is a 26-story steel frame high-rise office tower risin ...

505 Montgomery Street 505 Montgomery Street is a 24- storey, class-A office building in the financial district of San Francisco, California. The spire perched atop the building is thought to be a replica of the Empire State Building, but that association is mainly ...

(600 Montgomery) A building bearing the name of

One Montgomery Tower One Montgomery Tower (also known as Montgomery Tower and formerly Pacific Telesis Tower), part of the Post Montgomery Center complex, is an office skyscraper located at the northeast corner of Post and Kearny Streets in the financial district of ...

is located at the intersection of

Post Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service **Iraqi Post, Ira ...

and Kearny streets, behind the Wells Fargo flagship branch and Crocker Galleria.

Public transit

Montgomery Street is served by the

BART Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc. Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Barthol ...

and

Muni Metro Muni Metro is a light rail system serving San Francisco, California, United States. Operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni), a part of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), Muni Metro served an average of 157 ...

Montgomery Street Station Montgomery refers to: People For people with the name Montgomery, see Montgomery (name) Places Belgium * Montgomery Square, Brussels * Montgomery metro station, Brussels Pakistan * Montgomery (town), British India, former name of Sahiwal, Punjab ...

References

{{Streets in San Francisco Financial districts in the United States Streets in San Francisco Economy of San Francisco Financial District, San Francisco Chinatown, San Francisco