Bank of Italy - San Francisco, CA - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

"Amedeo Giannini, son of Italian immigrants to the US, started the Bank of America in a converted saloon in San Francisco at 9 am on Monday, 17 October 1904. On the first day, 28 deposits totalled $8,780.

When an earthquake struck in 1907, he ran his bank from a plank in the street. Word quickly spread about his service and by 1916 he had several branches. By 1929, the bank was strong enough to withstand the Great Depression stock crash. Giannini changed the name to Bank of America in 1928 and remained chairman until 1963.

Amadeo Peter Giannini

banker
Born: 5/6/1870
Birthplace: San Jose, Calif.

Leaving school at age 13, he worked for 18 years in his step-father's produce business before becoming a partner and retiring in 1901. He then began the Bank of Italy (1904), lending money he controlled as executor of his father-in-law's estate. His liberal loan policies were his trademark as the bank continued to expand throughout California, creating the first statewide branch-banking system in the country. He created the Transamerica Corp. holding company in 1928; in 1930 he established the Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association by combining the Bank of Italy with the Bank of America of California, which he had created in 1927 by consolidating other bank branches. The new conglomerate weathered the Depression to become the largest bank in the United States, and the largest privately owned bank in the world. Giannini's lending policies encouraged the development of both California's agricultural industry and the motion picture industry. His benefactions include the Bank of America-Giannini Foundation for medical research and educational scholarships and the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics of the University of California."
(visit link)

Street address: 552 Montgomery St. San Francisco , CA USA County / Borough / Parish: San Francisco Year listed: 1978 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Person Periods of significance: 1900-1924 Historic function: Commerce/ Trade Current function: Commerce/Trade Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 1: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   12/16/2010 Volcanoguy visited it 01/14/2010 saopaulo1 visited it 02/24/2008 ucdvicky visited it

View all visits/logs