San Francisco Earthquake 1906: Market Street to Golden Gate Park

The tenor Enrico Caruso, who had sung Don José in Carmen the night before, was staying at the Palace Hotel when the earthquake hit early on 18 April 1906, and he swore never to return to the city. By late that afternoon the hotel had been consumed by the fires that followed the quake. The Palace you see today stands on the same southwest corner of Market and New Montgomery streets.

Visitor guidance: A working hotel at Market and New Montgomery streets.

The earthquake and fire left many of the buildings along Market Street in ruins; in some cases buildings were dynamited to prevent the spread of flames. One account described Market Street sunken several feet in places. Yet repairs to the tracks on Market were already underway by 22 April. The pin marks a point along the street, not one single spot.

Location precision: The damage ran the length of Market Street, so the pin marks a point on the street rather than one location.

Visitor guidance: Market Street is a public street you can walk along.

On the morning of 18 April a woman lit her stove to prepare breakfast, starting a fire that destroyed a 30-block area, including a college, the Hall of Records and City Hall. The lost City Hall stood two blocks from the present San Francisco City Hall, which opened in 1915 in the Civic Center. The pin marks the current building, not the lost original.

Location precision: The earlier City Hall was destroyed; the pin marks the present building, which stands two blocks away.

Visitor guidance: The present City Hall in the Civic Center is the replacement building, not the one lost in 1906.

Lotta's Fountain, a gift to the city from the actress Lotta Crabtree, was dedicated in 1875 on Market Street. In the aftermath of the earthquake and fire it became a meeting point, and a plaque on it commemorates that role. Survivors of the earthquake later gathered here at 5:12 a.m. on 18 April to remember it.

Visitor guidance: The fountain stands on Market Street.

When the earthquake struck, the Fairmont structure survived, but the interior was heavily damaged by fire, and the opening was delayed until 1907. The architect and engineer Julia Morgan was hired to repair the building. The hotel still stands on Nob Hill.

Visitor guidance: A working hotel at 950 Mason Street; the lobby is open to guests and visitors.

After the fire, all that remained of the Alban N. Towne mansion at 1101 California Street on Nob Hill was its marble porch with six marble columns. In 1909 the porch was moved to Golden Gate Park, the same park that newspapers had described as covered with makeshift tents after the disaster. It still stands there as Portals of the Past.

Visitor guidance: In Golden Gate Park, off John F Kennedy Drive.