Battery Street vault

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I am trying to find information about a building that is located at 191 Battery Street (current address) in San Francisco. We are removing a vault door from the building and are interested in its history. Any information about the building and its history would be great.

-- Lynel (brownsafe@aol.com), May 29, 2002

Answers

Addresses are tricky. The street number usually refers to the front door. A large building can occupy many addresses on up to four streets.

That said, two buildings are candidates:the John A Hooper Building at 111 Battery and The Stanly R Dollar Building at 141 Battery.

is the building on a corner? If so, consider what its other street address might have been.

Good luck in your research.

-- Kurt Iversen (iversenk@aol.com), May 30, 2002.


Doesn't the Assessor's office have a cross reference of owners by plot number? You could find a chain of ownership that way (and clues to tenancies) that way.

-- Rosa (rosadebon@yahoo.com), May 31, 2002.

Hi, Lynel,

First of all, I want to know what do you mean by the "vault door"? Is it somewhere underground or in the basement? Does the vault lead to other big tunnels?

Well...if you think I am describing your "vault door", then I might be able to give you some clues.

San Francisco (and nationwide) was once banned from alcohol (beers and wines...). And so, San Francisco liquor stores and bars built massive underground tunnels connecting to each others.

The one you see could be one, too. Try to vertify that if the 191 Battery St. building was a bar or a liquor store in the past.

Owen

-- Owen (mushroom_7@hotmail.com), June 03, 2002.


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