In short, nearly all we have in Northern California to-day in the way of industries and enterprise can trace the starting point to that age.
It was an intense, booming, hopeful decade, a period of great events and great men, when everyone at last realized that gold was the smallest part of the State’s resources and the outlook as broad as the horizon of midocean. I do not wish to interrupt the narrative to dip into general history, but it may interest the reader to have a glimpse, as we jog along, of real things and the live people of what I may be pardoned for calling the old but recent times.
All old Californians can recollect the now faded glory of Montgomery street. Stretching barely from the foot of Telegraph Hill, at Jackson street, nine blocks, to a full stop at Market street, it was really the whole town. During the busy hours of the day you could meet there every man worth knowing in San Francisco, and in the afternoon, every woman with a pretty face or a handsome gown to show. This gave a wonderful facility for acquaintance and general good-fellowship. Everybody knew everybody. That was what made the old San Francisco the most charming and fascinating city in the world from a social standpoint. It was not alone the most brilliant society I ever encountered in an experience that has covered most of the world, but there was a freedom and heartiness in general intercourse that could only be explained by the conditions under which people lived.
Into those nine blocks, and, to a less extent, into one block on either side of some of the intersecting streets like California, Pine and Bush, a vast business was huddled no less remarkable for its vast extent than for its cosmopolitan, or rather heterogeneous character. Banks, commercial houses, stock exchanges, brokers’ offices, courts, public buildings, the leading hotels, retail stores, public libraries, theaters, music halls, the two great social clubs, nearly all the lawyers in town, the leading doctors and probably the finest saloons in the world, were mixed up inextricably like a huge human menagerie broke loose. Not to be on Montgomery street, or within half a block of it, was to be classed as a business, professional or social pariah.
Of course real estate values soared skyward. It was hard to estimate what Montgomery street frontage was really worth, but there were actual transactions as high as $6,000 a front foot, nearly as high as the present selling price of choice realty on Market street. Rents likewise were enormous. Considering how little the landlord gave in the way of conveniences to his tenants, these rents were much higher than they are today.
To relieve this tremendous congestion was one of the problems of San Francisco in the 60’s. No one had the perspective to forecast cable and trolley cars climbing all kinds of grades and peopling the hills with homes. All we could see was an extension south and for that purpose the city was badly laid out.
The battle cry in the early 60’s was “Montgomery street straight.” The all but universal wish was to run the great street, broadened to a wide avenue, in a direct line to Connecticut street, far to the south. Tremendous efforts were made to carry through this project in a peaceful way. Several times it was near accomplishment, but just as often fell through, owing to some recalcitrant property owner. The main obstacle was the large block of land on Market street where the Palace Hotel now stands. This was owned by the Catholic Church and had been reserved for the construction thereon of a great religious edifice.
As soon as I got my bearings in San Francisco, I saw at once what a vital question was involved and what a grand opportunity was there to win not alone fortune, but fame. I carefully surveyed the situation from every standpoint and finally hit upon a scheme which would carry out the original design of “Montgomery street straight,” and avoid the opposition hitherto evolved. As what follows forms one of the interesting bits of San Francisco’s history, hitherto untold, and the city’s present status was greatly influenced by my plans, which, however, were only carried out in part, I will give an outline of one of the largest real estate transactions, of a far reaching character, ever conceived and partly completed in the history of San Francisco.