Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco is the federal bank for the twelfth district in the United States. The twelfth district is made up of nine western states—Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington—plus American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco has branch offices in Los Angeles, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Seattle. It also has a cash processing center in Phoenix.
The twelfth district, the nation's largest, covers about 1.3 million square miles (36% of the nation's area). In 2004 the San Francisco Fed processed 20.8 billion currency notes and 1.5 billion commercial checks. The current president, appointed in 2004, is Janet Yellen.
The Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco has one of the largest collection of US paper money in the United States which is displayed in the American Currency Exhibit.
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[edit] History
The San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank opened for business in rented quarters at the rear of the Merchants National Bank on November 16, 1914, in order to make the reserve provisions of the Federal Reserve Act.
In May of 1916 the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco had 25 employees. The check collection operation started in July 1916, and by the end of that year the staff had more than doubled to about 60.
At the end of 1923 the San Francisco staff moved out of temporary locations and into the Bank's newly built headquarters at 400 Sansome Street, a location that it would occupy for the next 60 years.
The Federal Reserve Bank at 400 Sansome Street was designed by George W. Kelha and built in 1924. The lower building with its Ionic colonnade is pure Beaux-Arts, while the upper building is in the new Moderne fashion of 1924. The lobby with murals by Jules Guerin who created the palette for the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exhibit.
In 1983 the bank is moved from its office in Sansome to 101 Market Street between Main Street and Spear Street, convenient to the Embarcadero BART or MUNI stop.
[edit] Tours
Housed in this building is one of the most complete United States currency collections ever assembled. Bills dating back to the Civil War, $100,000 notes, and dozens of other mint condition bills make this a numismatic dream.
Free tours are open to the public on Friday afternoon. Sign-up and ID required.
Plan a tour ahead of time with a group (note this is NOT the drop-in public Friday tour) and see first-hand what billions of dollars looks like in the vault. All tour recipients receive their own share of shredded cash.
All tours include the currency exhibit as well as interactive, hands-on displays. Uncover counterfeit bills, learn about financial policy, and see what it's like to control interest rates in the Chairman of the Board video game.
Security is tight. No hats, cameras, cell phones, or purses are allowed.
- Source: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Website
