A Pleasant Mansion Traditional Cache

Mary Ellen Pleasant was a 19th-century entrepreneur, financier, real estate magnate and abolitionist. She was arguably the first African-American self-made millionaire, preceding Madam C. J. Walker by decades. Like most of those early pioneer San Franciscans Mary Ellen Pleasant did things her own way and cared little for what was thought of her. She was involved in many causes including the abolitionist moment and she helped John Brown by funding his raid on Harper’s Ferry.

She build a mansion on this spot in the late 1800s and lived there with her business partner, Thomas Bell, and his family until his death and legal battles forced her to move to an apartment a few blocks away on Webster street.

She was a fascinating person and the Zebra encourages you to read more about her on Wikipedia.

Thank you for visiting the cache and we hope you enjoy your visit in The City.