Hibernia Bank Building (San Francisco)

The Hibernia Bank Building is recognizable by its grand domed entrance and the colossal fluted granite columns that wrap around its exterior. Constructed in eighteen ninety-two at the corner of Jones, McAllister, and Market Streets, the building was designed by architect Albert Pissis to serve the Hibernia Savings and Loan Society. Named after the classical Latin term for Ireland, the bank became a sanctuary for Irish miners who had found wealth in the California Gold Rush. Local artists and architects were so impressed by the building that they nicknamed it The Paragon, and a poll by the San Francisco Call once declared it the most artistic structure in the city.