20/50.- San Francisco, Wells Fargo & Co.

San Francisco's Financial District is not just steel and concrete, commercial buildings, office towers, skyscraper architecture; it is a chapter in America's history, a golden page in California's history. To me that reads two names, two buildings, two stories: Wells Fargo and Bank of America.

The name Wells Fargo evokes a six-horse stagecoach rushing across the American West loaded with gold. The bank emerged in 1852 in the port of San Francisco, and soon opened business in other cities and mining camps of the West. It expanded its operations across the nation building a solid reputation in 25 states.

You can visit Wells Fargo History Museum located at 420 Montgomery Street in San Francisco's Financial District. The Wells Fargo Museum may be entered from either side of the corner of Montgomery and California. On display: documents, a Concord coach, gold nuggets, gold coins, gold dust, mining tools.

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