William Chapman Ralston was a San Francisco businessman and financier, and the founder of the Bank of California.
William Chapman Ralston
The 1875 Palace Hotel
The April 1906 Palace Hotel Fire
The Bank of California was opened in San Francisco, California, on July 4, 1864, by William Chapman Ralston and Darius Ogden Mills. It was the first commercial bank in the Western United States, and considered instrumental in developing the American Old West.
The Bank of California in 1875
Bank of California ad, 1870
William C. Ralston
Bank of California Building (Portland)