The two organizations merged in February 2002 . One of the purposes of the merger was so that they could put together one proposal to renovate and operate the Old Mint as a history museum . However , the Museum of the City of San Francisco 's original web site , operated directly by Gladys Hansen , remained independent , and in 2003 renamed itself as the '' ' Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco ' '' . Hansen 's personal research collection of artifacts from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake also remained in her possession . The San Francisco Museum and Historical Society took over management of the Old San Francisco Mint in 2004 , with plans to make it the museum 's permanent home . The City of San Francisco proclaimed SFMHS as the official historical museum of San Francisco . The organization spent about US$ 14 million to stabilize and partially renovate the building . However , the building still needed about US$ 60 million in additional work , and the City of San Francisco concluded the organization was not making progress quickly enough after 11 years of work , so it ordered the SFMHS to vacate the building in 2015
1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
San Francisco Museum and Historical Society