The Niantic, the ship buried under the offices

Look down at the pavement, then up at the towers. In 1849 there was no street at this corner: there was water. Yerba Buena Cove reached Montgomery Street, one block west, and everything you see toward the bay is land reclaimed from it.

1An abandoned fleet

When the Gold Rush began, hundreds of ships arrived in San Francisco and many were left without crews: sailors deserted the moment they reached land and headed for the mines. The empty hulls were put to use as warehouses, offices, saloons and even jails. The Niantic, a former whaler that brought some 250 gold seekers from Panama, was beached here in 1849 and turned into a storeship, with a roof and offices built over the deck.

2From fire to hotel

The great fire of May 1851 burned her down to the waterline. On what was left of the hull rose the Niantic Hotel, which stood until 1872. Afterwards, landfill buried her, as it did dozens of other ships: more than forty are thought to lie beneath the Financial District to this day.

In 1978, construction work brought the Niantic's hull back to light, along with bottles and other objects of the period.

Part of the remains is preserved at the San Francisco Maritime Museum. Sources disagree on the year the ship was built, placing it between 1832 and 1835.

3What to look for

• The «Site of ship Niantic» plaque, from 1919, in the Clay Street arcade.
• The Transamerica Pyramid (1972), built on the site of the old Montgomery Block.
• The gentle slope of Clay Street, which follows the old shoreline uphill.