The Colombo Building rises as a narrow, wedge-shaped prow at the intersection of Columbus Avenue, Montgomery Street, and Washington Street. Its flat iron shape mirrors the layout of the city streets meeting at sharp angles here. In the early twentieth century, the building housed the headquarters for the Bank of Italy, founded by Amadeo Giannini. Giannini famously hauled his bank's gold and cash out of the city in a vegetable cart to save the reserves during the nineteen oh six earthquake.
Colombo Building
historic