The Old San Francisco Mint (also Old United States Mint or simply Old Mint, nicknamed The Granite Lady) is a building that served as the location of the
San Francisco branch of the
United States Mint
The United States Mint is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bullion. It does not produce paper money; tha ...
from 1874 until 1937. The building is one of the few that survived the great
1906 San Francisco earthquake and resulting fire. It was designated a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 1961, and as a California Historical Landmark in 1974.
History
Construction
The Old San Francisco Mint was the second building of the San Francisco branch, replacing the original building which had been built in 1854. The new building, which started construction on April 1, 1869, and was completed in November, 1874, was designed by
Alfred B. Mullett
Alfred Bult Mullett (April 7, 1834 – October 20, 1890) was a British-American architect who served from 1866 to 1874 as Supervising Architect, head of the agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government build ...
in a conservative
Greek Revival
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...
style with a sober
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of c ...
. The cost of the building was $2,130,512. The building had a central
pediment
Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape.
Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds.
A pedim ...
ed
portico flanked by projecting wings in an E-shape; it was built around a completely enclosed central courtyard. The roof is an average of 52.5 feet in height.
Fire of 1906
The central courtyard contained a well which helped saved the structure during the fire of 1906, when the heat melted the plate glass windows. It exploded sandstone and granite blocks with which the building was faced. The building was based on a concrete and granite foundation, designed to thwart tunneling into its vaults. At the time of the 1906 fire held $300 million, fully a third of the United States' gold reserves. Efforts by Superintendent
Frank A. Leach and his men preserved the building and the bullion that then backed the nation's currency. The mint resumed operation soon thereafter, continuing until 1937 when it was replaced by the current San Francisco Mint building.
Post-Mint uses
In 1961 the Old Mint, as it had become known, was designated as a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
.
[James Dillon (March 30, 1976) , National Park Service and ] It was designated as a
California Historical Landmark
A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance.
Criteria
Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...
in 1974.
"The Granite Lady" nickname is inaccurate, as most of the building is made from
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
, quarried from
Newcastle Island,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
. The entire external and upper stories are made of sandstone, built above a granite basement. 'The Granite Lady' was a marketing term given in the 1970s, and it became popular. The Old Mint was open to visitors until 1993, and had exhibits interpreting its history.
In 2003 the federal government sold the structure to the City of San Francisco for one dollar—an 1879 silver dollar struck at the mint— for use as a
historical museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...
. It was to be called the
San Francisco Museum at the Mint.
In the fall of 2005, ground was broken for renovations to adapt the central court as a glass-enclosed galleria. In 2006 Congress created the San Francisco Old Mint Commemorative Coin, the first coin to honor a United States mint (). The first phase of renovations was completed in 2011.
Current status
In 2014, the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society began raising money for the second phase, to include permanent exhibitions. In 2015, the City of San Francisco looked for a new tenant to renovate and program the space. The organization, Activate San Francisco Events, was chosen as an interim tenant.
In 2016 to celebrate the public re-opening, on the first weekend in March, the Old Mint hosted a "San Francisco History Days" event; more than 60 historic organizations participated.
Until a new tenant is found, the Old Mint will continue to be used for special events, some open to the public. In April 2016, the
California Historical Society
The California Historical Society (CHS) is the official historical society of California. It was founded in 1871, by a group of prominent Californian intellectuals at Santa Clara University. It was officially designated as the Californian state ...
agreed to undertake restoration of the building and its preservation as a public space.
References
{{Registered Historic Places
United States Mint
Mints of the United States
Alfred B. Mullett buildings
National Historic Landmarks in the San Francisco Bay Area
Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in San Francisco
San Francisco Designated Landmarks