Image from 1904 bond

Bonds of the City and County of San Francisco 1851-1908

Introduction

Bill Roddy
Office of the Mayor
(1965-1976)

San Francisco's colorful history has been told in many ways; in books, film, documentaries and song. Here it is told for the first time in its bonds. They had been stored in the Hall of Records, adjacent to the City Hall. On April 18, 1906, the City Hall was destroyed, but the Hall of Records and thousands of old bonds did not burn.

1906 City Treasurer John McDougald convinced the Board of Supervisors that the bonds should be preserved, (he could have had them destroyed.) McDougald was a history buff, with a sense of publicity, and the bonds were saved. The cancelled certificates were bound in handsome leather books with gilt lettering. They were placed in the new City Hall in 1912 and forgotten.

One day in the 1970s while exploring the Treasurer's basement I found them. I told Mayor Alioto they could raise thousands of dollars if sold to collectors.  Alioto agreed and the Board of Supervisors authorized their sale by the Mayor's Office with proceeds to fund the City's Bicentennial in 1976. We sold them in the lobby of the Treasurer's Office and later in the City Visitor Center off the Rotunda.

They did raise thousands of dollars.

Here is  the Bond Catalog