The Old U.S. Mint at 5th and Mission
Old mint under construction, 1870s
Photo: Edweard Muybridge, courtesy California Historical Society
Back of the Old Mint Building, mid-1990s.
Photo: Chris Carlsson
Old U.S. Mint, 88 Fifth Street at Mission. After spending three years making his literary mark in England, Ambrose Bierce returned to San Francisco in 1875. Like many a writer after him, Bierce discovered that "making a living in San Francisco by freelancing was next to impossible" and went to work at the Mint. John Dillinger's explanation of why he robbed banks "That's where the money is" was presumably also Bierce's excuse.
The diabolic wordsmith wasn't the only beneficiary of the Mint's largesse. The Old Mint played a key role in San Francisco's amazing recovery from the 1906 earthquake; its vast reserves were used to create the money and credit that sparked the rebuilding spree. The historic building has since been converted into a museum, but was closed in 1994. Plans are afoot to reopen in 2011 as a Museum of the City of San Francisco.
--Dr. Weirde
Front of the Old Mint Building at 5th and Mission survived the 1906 earthquake and fire.
Photo: Chris Carlsson