The Montgomery Block was San Francisco's first fireproof and earthquake resistant building, which came to be known as a Bohemian centre from the late 19th to the middle of the 20th century. It was located at 628 Montgomery Street, on the south-east corner of its intersection with Washington Street, today the location of the Transamerica Pyramid.
The four-story building was erected in 1853 by Henry Wager Halleck, later general in chief of the Union Army in the Civil War, in the "Barbary Coast" red-light district. As locals endearingly refer to it, the Monkey Block was for a hundred years headquarters for many outstanding lawyers, financiers, writers, actors, and artists. Its tenants included artists and writers of all kind and it also hosted many illustrious visitors, among them Jack London, George Sterling, Lola Montez, Lotta Crabtree, Gelett Burgess, Maynard Dixon, Frank Norris, Ambrose Bierce, Bret Harte, the Booths and Mark Twain. The site of Montgomery Block is now registered as a California Historical Landmark.
Read more about Montgomery Block: Structure and Safety, History
Famous quotes containing the words montgomery and/or block:
“Yet nightly pitch my moving tent,
A day’s march nearer home.”
—James Montgomery (1771–1854)
“Being dismantled before our eyes are not just individual programs that politicians cite as too expensive but the whole idea that society has a stake in the well-being of children down the block and the security of families on the other side of town. Whether or not kids eat well, are nurtured and have a roof over their heads is not just a consequence of how their parents behave. It is also a responsibility of society—but now apparently a diminishing one.”
—Richard B. Stolley (20th century)