The Big Quake & It's Aftermath
Every single newspaper all across the Us and the world carried the headline of the 1906 earthquake. Here is the cover of the New York Tribune printed on April 19.
There are literally thousands upon thousands of photographs taken of the people, the badly damaged building remains and the fire. Here are some of the best that I colorized this morning!
The earthquake also ignited several fires around the city that burned for three days and destroyed nearly 500 city blocks.
With no other means to fight back, Army Gen. Frederick Funston and civil authorities decided on a last resort: using dynamite to create firebreaks. The idea was to destroy part of the city to save the rest. It turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes in San Francisco history! Below is a picture of the aftermath in the vicinity of Post and Grant Avenue
With so many families homeless, the army immediately set up tents in Golden Gate Park. This is where Nell, Charles all of their remaining siblings and their families lived for a time.
In 1936, Hollywood director W.S Van Dyck decided to create a musical drama based on the 1906 quake called, San Francisco starring Clark Gable, Jeanette Macdonald and Spencer Tracy.
As described (from the Wikipedia website) the story line is as follow:
"Blackie Norton (Clark Gable) is a nightclub owner who hires a down-on-her-luck singer for his club, Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald). The two hit it off and even become romantically involved, but soon she is courted by real-estate magnate Jack Burley (Jack Holt) to sing at the Tivoli Opera House. At first she refuses, but when she sees questionable posters of her put up by Blackie, she leaves, forcing Blackie to find a way to win her and his business back."
If you have ever wondered where the song, San Francisco came from, it was written for this movie by Bronislaw Kaper and Walter Jurmann, with lyrics by Gus Kahn. It is sung by Jeanette MacDonald six times in the film, and becomes an anthem for the survivors of the 1906 earthquake. The opening lyrics are simple and quite fun to sing!
"San Francisco, open your Golden Gate
You'll let no stranger wait outside your door
San Francisco, here is your wanderin' one
Saying I'll wander no more. "
What is amazing about his film is how realistic they made the big quake seem like. Keep in mind, this was 1936 and way before all the computer technology they use today in movies and television.
With appreciative and gracious thanks to a You Tube member Mart Sander , here is the 1906 earthquake sequence.
As described by the National Park Services,
The Army managed 21 of the city’s 26 official refugee camps. Four camps were located on the Presidio, including an isolated camp for refugees from Chinatown. At the Presidio camps 3,000 tents were arranged in orderly street-grid formation complete with numbers and corner directories.
Soon, the refugee camps became small and highly-organized tent towns, where, according to the some reports, "The people are well cared for and are taking things as happily and philosophically as if they were out on a summer's camping trip." Despite their recent hardships, refugees in the camps quickly established routines of regular life. Children formed playgroups in the camps and dining halls became a center of social gatherings. These camps emptied as the city was rebuilt. The Presidio camps were dismantled first, closing in June, 1906."
But with winter approaching, something more substantial and stronger needed to be built.
So together with the army the city built 5,300 small wooden cottages for those still in need of housing. These “earthquake shacks” were a joint effort of the San Francisco Relief Corporation, the San Francisco Parks Commission, and the Army. Union carpenters built the structures, which are said to be based on a design provided by General Greely, who had personal experience in building Arctic shelters with few supplies.
Mayor Schmitz vocalized his concern about the clean conditions and desirable locations of the new cottage camps with the statement, "I'm only afraid these people will never want to leave their new homes here."
At peak occupancy the cottages housed 16,448 refugees. Tenants paid $2 a month toward the $50 price of the cottage. After paying off their new home, the owners were required to move their cottages from the camps. The last camp closed in June 1908, leaving earthquake cottages scattered throughout San Francisco.
Thus, I had thought that this photo below of the Cook and Steele families were taken in front of one of these buildings.
Uncle Bill continued to correct me saying that no, this picture taken at the Cook's new home in Sonoma. I still felt on this point, that no way as it looks like the earthquake shack picture on the right~~
HOWEVER, Uncle Bill was right all along! When I began this particular blog posting, I suddenly realized that the baby Nell is holding -known as Great Aunt Evelyn- was born in 1907, the year after the earthquake therefore Uncle Bill was right and this ancestry detective was wrong.
This am a small ceremony took place at Lotta's Fountain. All had masks on and three people dressed up in the clothing attire of that time. The Bell was rung at the exact time the earthquake started and as always, the fire hydrant that saved much of the city re painted gold. Below is a short video from KRON television posted on your tube this morning
