1906 earthquake

A collection of 25 posts

Downtown

Still Lucky

In 1898, "Lucky" Baldwin lost a big bet with one of San Francisco's most notable fires.

Union Square

The White House

Remembering a store and a man that every San Franciscan once knew.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #56

Parades, grizzlies, and a new San Francisco time-machine destination.

Downtown

Lotta’s 150th

A birthday for San Francisco's most liked landmark.

Telegraph Hill

Telegraph Place

Having a crush on some long-gone San Francisco houses and wondering what happened to Good Children.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #54

The last house, the widest sidewalk, and the coldest winter San Francisco stories.

Octagon Houses

A Home for All

San Francisco's landmark octagon houses.

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #51

Three years of San Francisco Story means an over-long Grab Bag with German churches, Danish tug-of-war teams, bowling, and Woody wool-gathering.

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #49

After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, but before the fire, and one man trying to get home.

Western Addition

Moved by Faith

The 1850s San Francisco church that kept moving west.

Western Addition

Tales from the Hotel Jefferson

Beginnings and ends in San Francisco’s Western Addition.

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #45

Super-sized San Francisco history hash of huckster cowboys, old cars, old bars, ruined mansions, hitching posts, and Lotta's fountain.

Richmond District

Carzonia Apartments

Cable-car-house living in the Richmond District after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire.

Mint Hill

Orphan Asylum

The stone castle which gave shelter to thousands of children and two street names to San Francisco.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #43

Emporium roof rides, the Human Jukebox, and Dianne Feinstein: a classic San Francisco Grab Bag, right?

Downtown

The Monkey Block

How San Francisco's Montgomery Block, built in 1853, survived every disaster, but lost to one man.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #40

Exploding cannons, secret water tanks, and funeral pick-pockets from ye olde San Francisco.

1906 earthquake

Captive Airship

How did George R. Lawrence take his amazing aerial panoramas after the 1906 earthquake?

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #34

I come to praise San Francisco, not bury it, plus news on old stuff getting older.

1906 earthquake

Last Night in Old San Francisco

Things to do on the eve of the 1906 earthquake.

Mission District

Mixed-Use Mission Street

What changed and what didn't on one San Francisco block after the 1906 earthquake and fire.

Mission District

Maguire's Houses

Life on one Mission District block on February 22, 1887 at 11:35 a.m.

Union Square

Hallowed Ground on Sutter Street

From the time of its dedication on March 23, 1866, the old Temple Emanu-El was a landmark of 19th-century San Francisco.

Pacific Heights

The Orphaned Pillar

San Francisco's Pacific Heights has a 7-foot remnant from a moved house that escaped the 1906 earthquake and fire.

Western Addition

The Fillmore Arches

After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, merchants tried to make Fillmore Street the city's new commercial center with some unique metal arches.