The Mint and the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire

All morning the rumor had spread that an armed gang was massing to storm the San Francisco United States Branch Mint at the corner of Fifth and Mission Streets and rob it of over two hundred million dollars in U.S. coins and gold & silver bullion stored in its vaults.

The mint's superintendent, Frank Leach, heard the rumor as soon he stepped off the Oakland ferry. By the time he reached the mint, the story had gained credence enough to warrant precautionary measures. Brigadier General Fulston dispatched a company of troops from the Sixth Infantry, under the command of Lieutenant Jackson, to guard the Mint.

The troops took up defensive positions on the roof. From the top of the building they could fire directly along Mission and Fifth Streets or across Turk and Eddy Streets. Fire Captain Jack Brady arrived next to supervise the building's defense against the destructive fire. The Mint built in 1874 was a commanding structure of granite and sandstone blocks, in the heart of the city of San Francisco. It had withstood the earthquake well, with only minor damage to the building.

With the threat of armed attack now under control, by midday Leach marshaled the sixty men in the mint to prepare to fight the approaching fire. The mint's heavy iron shutters across the ground-floor windows were bolted shut. Then the men went to the roof to remove the tar roofing. They ripped it away with iron bars and picks. Then buckets of blue vitriol were hoisted up from the refinery and the liquid was mopped over the exposed roof beams.

Fortunately the mint had its own water supply. But the earthquake had broken the pump from the artesian well buried beneath the vaults. Captain Bradly was able to improvise a quick repair, and soon after midday the pump could be hand-operated. By this time the mint was completely surrounded by the flames, which extended for blocks on either side. On the exposed roof the defenders, blackened by smoke, deafened by the crash of falling buildings, were faced with a fresh menace.

At about 3:PM, the wind carried a fire stream of cinders toward them. It swooped over their heads and plunged into the mint's inner courtyard, setting fire to the stripped tar there. With quick action, Lieutenant Armstrong grabbed a bucket and dropped down to the exposed rafters.

The San Francisco Mint, after a seven-hour battle was saved. Leaving a blackened building, its heavy iron shutters buckled by the heat, still standing. The artesian well continued to pump, and a bucket brigade kept the walls and exposed rafters damp.

In the courtyard Army Lieutenant Armstrong, lay on a pile of coats, his eyes covered, his hands and face burned by the vitriol he had poured on burning tar stripped from the roof.

Looking out from the roof, Superintendent Frank Leach of the Mint, saw a scene of nearly total devastation. He turned away and climbed down to the courtyard where the sixty men who had saved the mint sat exhausted.

Thanking them, he told them: "Appears to be nothing left out there. It's all gone. Most of the city of San Francisco seems to have burned out". The fire lasted seventy-four hours and left the city in near total destruction - The Great Fire of San Francisco, but the Mint still stands.