The Museum of San Francisco (former Pacific Heritage Museum)

The Museum of San Francisco is housed on the site of the original US Branch Mint from the 1850s and the US Subtreasury Building from the 1870s. The four-story brick building was damaged in the 1906 earthquake and fires and rebuilt as the one-story building that stands today. Recognized as a California State Historical Landmark (No. 87) in 1949 and as a San Francisco city landmark in 1970, the restored building housed a historical exhibit documenting the history and significance of the Branch Mint and Subtreasury buildings over time. Formerly called the Pacific Heritage Museum, the museum is now run by the San Francisco Historical Society and focuses on the city's history through permanent and rotating exhibits. Free to visit, the venue also is available for event rental.

The Pacific Heritage Museum of San Francisco was established in 1984 by the former Bank of Canton of California, now United Commercial Bank, as a public service for the citizens and visitors of San Francisco. The museum was housed in the historic US Subtreasury Building, dating from the mid-1870s and built on the site of the original US Branch Mint (the "first Branch Mint in the West"). The mint, which outgrew its Commercial Street location established in 1854 during the height of the California gold rush era, moved to a new and larger location at Fifth and Mission Streets in 1875.

The US Subtreasury used the old mint structure for a year (1874-1875), after which it was demolished and replaced with a four-story brick building designed by treasury architect William Appleton Potter. The new building was occupied in October 1877. While the building was one of the few to have withstood the earthquake of 1906, it was entirely gutted by the ensuing fire. Gold (worth $13 million) stored in the basement vault survived. The single-story building which presently occupies the site was reconstructed after the disaster and passed into private hands in 1915; the Subtreasury moved to the site of the San Francisco Stock Exchange.

The building has been carefully preserved and restored as a free-standing structure integrated into the Bank of Canton's high-rise building design. Recognized as a California State Historical Landmark in 1949 and as a San Francisco city landmark in 1970, the restored building housed a historical exhibit documenting the history and significance of the Branch Mint and Subtreasury buildings over time. This exhibit, located in a cut-away section through the original building depicting its unique construction techniques, includes architectural plans, photographs, coins and other artifacts pertinent to the role of the site in the early development of San Francisco.

In 2019, the museum switched focus and became the Museum of San Francisco, focused on the city's history and run by the San Francisco Historical Society (SFHS). The nonprofit organization was founded in 1988 and moved into the first Branch Mint in the West building in 2019. They had previously been housed in the Old Mint building at Fifth and Mission Streets. The SFHS had over 2,000 members in 2025 and also offers guided history walks and monthly presentations. The museum was closed for renovations and exhibit installations from April through June 2025 and was predicted to be ready to reopen in July 2025. The SFHS offers free docent-led tours of the museum on Saturdays at 10:30 am and 1:30 pm. The museum venue also is available for event rental.

Accessed 2014. http://www.lokstuff.com/UCB/phm/home.html http://www.sfstation.com/pacific-heritage-museum-b347

Henggeler, Ron. July 10, 2024, The San Francisco Historical Society Museum, Ron Henggeler. July 11th, 2024. Accessed June 30th, 2025. https://www.ronhenggeler.com/Newsletters/2024/7.11/Newsletter.html.

San Francisco Historical Society. About: History, San Francisco Historical Society. January 1st, 2025. Accessed June 30th, 2025. https://www.sfhistory.org/about/.

San Francisco Historical Society. Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco Historical Society: Museum. January 1st, 2025. Accessed June 30th, 2025. https://www.sfhistory.org/museumofsanfrancisco.

Noe Hill. California Historical Landmark 87: Site of First United States Mint in California, California Historical Landmarks in San Francisco. Accessed June 30th, 2025. https://noehill.com/sf/landmarks/cal0087.asp.

Baird, Joseph A., Jr. HABS documentation, Former US Sub-Treasury and Mint (now McCoy Label Co.), 608 Commercial Street, San Francisco. Volume CA-1218. Historic American Buildings Survey. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1961.