SF rumbled and burned 108 years ago – new photos uncovered

By Bob Bragman on November 18, 2014

Image 1 of 9 |San Francisco 1906 Earthquake photos

1906 San Francisco earthquake photos from the collection of Bob Bragman. The ruins of City Hall taken from the location of the Mechanics Institute, which is now the Bill Graham Auditorium.

Most of my Sunday mornings are spent wandering about at flea markets. I've been doing this for about the past 40 years. I try to discipline myself when it comes to buying, limiting the buying to photos and a few other areas of interest. But, who am I kidding. It doesn't always work out that way.

My interest in historical or vintage photos of San Francisco and the Bay Area has been unwavering, especially those that depict the 1906 earthquake and fire. A few weekends ago I spotted some photos in a zip lock bag. I picked it up and saw that the first one was an '06 quake photos. The vendor said that they were just cutouts from a magazine. She was asking $5.00 for them. I saw that, at the very least, the first one was a real photo. I made the purchase.

When I got home I removed the items from the plastic bag. They turned out to be photos and not magazine cut outs. I buy these for my personal collection, so I'm not looking to resell them. The historical value is what excites me. Thousands of photos were taken in the aftermath. I'm never sure if I've found a depiction that's never been seen before. It's often a same street or structure, but from a different angle.

If you're lucky, there will be identifying information written on the back of the photos. Out of the nine in the batch, three had writing on the back, one was only partially legible. I'll include the text from the back of those photos. Perhaps one of you can fill in the where/what blanks for the others. You can either contact me at collecting@sfgate.com, or post the info in the comments area. Thanks, Bob

See the rest of the images here:

http://blog.sfgate.com/collectivemind/2014/11/18/sf-rumbled-and-burned-108-years-ago-new-photos-uncovered/