Bonds of the City and County of San Francisco 1851-1908
1863-64 City Slip (Judgment bonds)
$1,022,392 @ 7%
There is a wonderful story behind these bonds.
The City believed it owned the tide lands lying East of Montgomery Street and decided to sell them. The corner boundaries of each lot were marked by stakes sticking out of the water.
San Francisco was in the midst of a real estate boom and they were quickly snapped up by speculators.
However, within a short time the market collapsed and the disgruntled buyers wanted their money back for what they saw as worthless underwater lots. They sued on the basis that the City had no title to the lots and the Court agreed. The City was ordered to refund the purchase price to each buyer.
But the City had already spent the money and had to issue bonds to pay off the buyers.
If they had kept their lots, their descendants would have owned Embarcadero Center.
