Lot 137
  • 137

San Francisco Earthquake and Fire

Estimate
4,000 - 6,000 USD
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Description

  • ink and paper
McComb, George S. "Photographic Souvenirs of the San Francisco Fire and Earthquake." San Francisco: 1906. 71 albumen prints captioned in manuscript and very occasionally the image, 8 x 10 and 3 x 4 1/4 inches, mounted on card in oblong quarto cloth album with manuscript title; one mount detached, few prints with some creasing at edges, fading to edges of a few others, few intermittent closed edge tears, one print with two corners torn from mount; cloth rubbed at joints and corners. Custom cloth box.

Provenance

Acquisition: William Reese

Catalogue Note

A remarkable record of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire as the disaster unfolded.

The  immense 18 April, 1906 earthquake, would alone have been devastating  (it was felt fom Los Angeles to Oregon and into Nevada) but it was the fire that followed, raging for days and leaving nearly three quarters of its citizens homeless, that forever transformed  San Francisco. Given the city's stature as the commercial and residential center of the West Coast, the physical damage and devastation were unusually well-documented, both because of the public interest in such a massive natural disaster, and the ensuing insurance claims (fire was covered in most policies but earthquakes were not).  Otherworldly scenes of the aftermath are well-represented in the present album (City Hall in ruins, the collapsed courtyard of the Palace Hotel and ruins of the Majestic Theatre for instance) but also herein and in unusual detail are   the fires as they burned and panoramas of their destruction from Twin Peaks and Buena Vista, as well as the social impact and attempts at disaster relief .

McCombs (a local resident that later started a real estate firm) has supplied images  the spread of the gas fires as they consumed buildings on nearly 500 blocks, then the homeless residents camping amid debris in the streets or decamping for Oakland if able. Finally, as the fires' course was stopped in the Mission District, tents are pitched in the following days in North Beach, Golden Gate and the Portrero, then bread and water lines are set up for the refugees, all carefully documented. (McCombs even notes the use of streetcars to house multiple families and somewhat depressingly, provides a startiling image of the looters at work on the iron safes that littered the streets).

While many of the refugee camps were still in place two years afterwards, San Francisco did of course rebuild, but the earthquake and raking fires were largely responsible for the shift of influence on the West Coast to Los Angeles. With a death toll almost impossible to calculate (the thousands dead in Chinatown have never been adequately accounted for) over a century later it remains one of the three most destructive diasters in American history.

Images as captured are:

 1. "City Hall Dome before the fire, from Market and 8th Streets."

2. "City Hall in ruins looking across Larkin street from Mechanics Pavilion sit."

3. "A study in masonry Larkin St. wing of City Hall." a close-up steret level photograph of the ruins of City Hall, with much debris in the foreground.

4. "New Masonic Temple, Geary and Steiner Sts. and the new Jewish Synagogue."

5. "Refreshment Booth Children's playground Golden Gate Park."

6. "Demolished Observatory on Strawberry Hill. Golden Gate Park."

7. "Steamer 'Columbia' in Dry Dock at Union Iron Works."

8. "Valencia Street break. Obtaining water fom the broken water main."

9. "Rumpled sidewalk on 18th street near Capp."

10. "At butchertown things were very decidedly mixed."

11. "Another view of butchertown." This and the preceding photograph show several ruined homes and businesses, with residents standing nearby.

12. "Van Ness Avenue, between Broadway and Vallejo Sts."

13. "St. Luke's Church Clay St. and Van Ness Avenue."

14. "Union Square Geary and Stockton Sts., Showing the fire already eating its way through the business district and the refugees huddled in the park for shelter."

15. "The fire in the business district as seen from Nob Hill."

16. "The fire has reached Third Street on Mission as seen from the Mills Building."

17. "Coming up Third Street on Mission St. 'Examiner' building on left 'Aronson' building in center 'Call' building on the right.

18. "Fire has surrounded the Call Building."

19. "'Call' Building before the fire."

20. "Call' Building burning Palace Hotel is still intact."

21. "Palace Hotel on fire."

22. "Fire reaches Frouth street on Mission St."

23. "Reaches Fifth street opposite U.S. Mint. Showing abandoned mail car."

24. "Hail Bros. stores at Sixth and Market streets are the next to go."

25. "Fire crosses 6th St. going out Market."

26. "The fire has now reached the Sterling Furniture Company on Market near Seventh street. The lower end of the fire has crossed Market street at Fourth street and the Hayes Valley Fire is coming down market street from 9th street. This explains the deserted appearance of the main thoroughfare."

27. "Seventh and Market streets - Odd Fellows building and the Grant building on the right. O'Callaghan Building on the left."

28. "The fire from Hayes Valley has destroyed the Mecahnics Pavilion and has attacked the City Hall."

29. "The fire along the water fron as seen from the Bay."

30. "Refugees in Jefferson Square waiting for orders to 'keep moving.'"

31. "Refugees camping in the streets. Any old kind of tent will do." The "tent" in this case is made from debris form fallen and burned buildings.

32. "Refugees flying to the hills."

33. "Pitching their tents wherever there is room."

34. "The fire was stopped in its westward march at Guerrero and 20th streets in teh MIssion, but is still raging along the water front, three miles away."

35. "Meat line."

36. "Bread line."

37. "Water line."

38. "Car line. Each car sheltered from one to three families for two weeks." This and the preceeding three phtogorpahs are all on a page with an additonal caption, "After the fire the next conideration was how to obtain food and shelter."

39. "Tent life in the Potrero."

40. "Tent life at North Beach."

41. "A Refugee camp serving lunch in Union Square Park." Hundreds of men are shown seated at long tables, surrounded by the hulks of burned-out buildings.

42. "Panoramic view of a portion of the burned district, as seen from Twin Peaks, looking down Market street to the Ferry."

43. "A panoramic view of a portion of the City from Twin Peaks before the fire."

44. "Looters at work on Sutter Street." Shows a dozen men rooting through rubble.

45. "
Remains of the Palace Hotel from Mission St."

46. "The world famous 'court' of the Palace Hotel."

47. "Sansome and Clay streets." This photograph is unnumbered in the caption

47a. Unnumbered, photograph of the Palace Hotel, captioned in the negative.

48. "Looking up California St. from the Kohl Buioding at the Fairmount HOtel, and the two cathedrals."

49. "Native Son's Building, Mason street between Post and Geary Sts. Stone M.E. church Post and Mason Sts. Flood Building Powell and Market Sts. St. Francis Hotel in the rea."

50. "A comprehensive view of the bsuiness portion of the City as seen from Rincon Hill." Nineteen buildings are identified by name in the manuscript captions.

51. "Temple of Music and Mirth - the 'Tivoli'"

52. "'Columbia' Theatre Powell St. near Market."

53. "'California' Theatre Bush St. near Kearny."

54. "'Majestic' Theatre Market St. near Ninth."

55. "Interior view of 'Majestic' Theatre."

56. "St. Francis Hotel from Post and Stockton Sts. looking across Union Square."

57. "Panoramic view from 'Nob-Hill'"

58. "Looking down Post St. from Stockton."

59. "United States Post-Office Bldg. 7th and Mission Sts. Grand Bldg. in rear."

60. "First National Bank Bush and Sansome Sts."

61. "U.S. Appraisers Bldg. Sansome and Washington Sts. Also shows one block of unburned buildings."

62. "Forest of chimneys Broadway and Hude Sts."

63. "California 'Pioneers' Building Foruth St. between Market and Mission Sts."

64. "'Fairmount' Hotel and 'Imp. Order Red Men's' Bldg. from Union Dquare."

65. "Hall of Justice, before the fire."

66. ""Hall of Justice, after the fire."

67. "Looking up Third Street from mission to Market 'Call' Bldg. to the left Mutual Savs. Bk.' on the right."

68. "Looking down Geary St. from Dupont to Market. Chronicle Bldg. on the left Mutual Savs. Bk. on the right rear view."

69. "A scene of desolation, from the corner of Broadway and Van Ness Avenue looking up the west side of Russian Hill. Union Street cable powerhouse chimney on the top of the hill."

70. "Panoramic View of the City from Buena Vista Park."