In 1909, Amadeo Peter Giannini, a bold, farsighted businessman and founder of the San Francisco Bank of Italy, established the bank's first out-of-town branch in his native city of San José . Built at the corner of Lightston and Santa Clara Streets, San José's new Bank of Italy represented Giannini's first step towards his creation of one of the world's largest privately owned banks, the Bank of America.

Originally concerned over the inadequate banking service offered the Italian community at the turn of the century, Giannini founded the Bank of Italy in 1904. By 1930 the bank had grown to become nationally famous as the Bank of America. Beginning with San José's Bank of Italy branch and followed by his subsequent development of the first successful branch banking system in the United States, Giannini set the pace of banking in this country as well as hastening and strengthening the growth of California.

The Bank of America funded the reconstruction at History Park as a Bicentennial Project in 1977. All artifacts in the bank are from the Bank of America and were used in San José branches.