Ralston’s San Francisco
A walking tour of the places in his story
The downtown walk
- 1
Bank of California
California & Sansome Streets · Map →
Ralston opened the Bank of California in 1864, and its marble headquarters rose on this corner soon after. His building is gone, but its 1908 successor — a granite temple of a bank — still stands at 400 California Street.
- 2
Site of the California Theatre
Bush Street near Kearny · Map →
Ralston financed the California Theatre, which opened in January 1869 as the grandest stage in the West. The building is long gone.
- 3
New Montgomery Street
Market Street to Howard Street · Map →
Ralston pushed this street through the blocks south of Market — carved out largely so the city could reach the grand hotel he was about to build at its head.
- 4
The Palace Hotel
Market & New Montgomery · Map →
Ralston’s masterpiece, opened October 2, 1875 — five weeks after his death. Rebuilt after the 1906 fire, its carriage courtyard became the Garden Court. Walk in and look up.
- 5
Site of his last swim
North Beach waterfront, near today’s Fisherman’s Wharf · Map →
On August 27, 1875 — hours after resigning from his bank — Ralston went into the Bay for his regular swim near Meiggs’ Wharf and died in the water. The shoreline has shifted since; the cove at Aquatic Park is the closest you can get to it today.
- 6
Ralston Memorial
Marina Green · Map →
A memorial to Ralston was erected on the Marina Green waterfront in 1941 — the city remembering the man who built it, facing the water that took him.
Further afield
- 7
Ralston Hall
1500 Ralston Avenue, Belmont · Map →
His 55,000-square-foot country house, completed in 1868 — mirrored ballroom, opera box, and all. Now a National Historic Landmark on the Notre Dame de Namur University campus.
- 8
Cypress Lawn Memorial Park
El Camino Real, Colma · Map →
Ralston was buried at Lone Mountain after the largest funeral San Francisco had seen; he was later moved here, where he rests today.