Hibernia Bank Savings and Loan Society was founded on April 12, 1852 in a small office at the corner of Jackson and Montgomery by four Irish businessmen (Hibernia is the Latin name for Ireland). The bank accepted miners’ un-minted gold and was quickly considered “the people’s bank”. It would move from Jackson to an office at Montgomery and Post until, in the late 1880s, architect Albert Pissis (1852-1914) was hired to design a building at 1 Jones at the intersection of Jones, McAllister and Market. Pissis was the first San Francisco-raised architect to study at Paris’ Ecole des Beaux Arts.
The Hibernia Bank Building was completed in 1892 and was one of San Francisco’s earliest examples of the Beaux Arts style that became prolific throughout the City. San Franciscans referred to it as “The Paragon” because it was by far the most beautiful building in the City at that time. At 42,000 square feet, the building’s entrance leads into a large domed rotunda with ornate stained glass skylights and gilded moldings. The main floor has exposed brick walls, red marble accents and a massive vault that sits against the back wall.
After the 1906 Earthquake and Fire[1], the building sustained little structural damage but was ravaged by fire. Employees with shotguns guarded the building until repairs were completed. It took a month for the main vault to cool before it could be opened. The bank reopened five weeks after the disaster to a 5-block line of customers desperate for funds.
Hibernia Bank moved out of the building in 1985. The bank was acquired by Security Pacific Bank in 1988 which in turn was acquired by Bank of America[2] in 1992. The Hibernia Building was used by the San Francisco Police Department until 2000 when it was bought by an out-of-town investor who, after the dot-com bubble bust, left it unoccupied and unmaintained. In 2008 a reality firm purchased the building and undertook extensive renovations and retrofitting, restoring the interior to its original grandeur. But the building now sits at the corner of the Tenderloin[3] and its location deterred potential tenants. In 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton held a fundraiser there, after-which the owners re-branded the Hibernia Building as an upscale events venue[4].
[1] 1906 Earthquake and Fires: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=2849 [2] Bank of America: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=3302 [3] Tenderloin: story coming November 3rd [4] Visit them at https://thehiberniasf.com
