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1906. "Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, amid ruins of earthquake and fire." The hotel, near completion when disaster struck, opened the following year. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
The Fairmont had a cocktail lounge called The Tonga Room which was one on the few places in town where we teen aged kids could take our dates and listen to some music and enjoy a non-alcoholic "cocktail." This 1961 picture is of a "Senior Ball" double date during my senior year in high school. My sister and I are the inside couple, with our respective dates (on the outside). The Swig family were the owners of the hotel in those days.
Below is the same view from September of 2009. Trees and buildings now obsure most of the Fairmont from this perspective.
Fantastic photograph! My jaw dropped! I take the #1 California bus in San Francisco several times a week, which drives right by the Fairmont. Wow. Photographs as time machines, definitely. Must have been solidly built.
The flagship and namesake of the Fairmont chain of hotels. Although the company is now based in Canada.
I've seen lots of post-earthquake photos (even this one, I think), but I didn't realize that some were taken by DPC. It's amazing how little smoke staining there is on the exterior. Also, many of the windows on the lower floors are still intact.
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