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San Francisco after the earthquake and fire of April 1906. "Turk Street, from the corner of Market and Mason." Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
The treadle irons belonged to an earlier model Davis Vertical Feed, maybe 1880 or so. It managed to get into other photos! The irons found their way across the street to the Native Sons monument, where they posed for a couple shots in the SF Chronicle. (details below, full photos linked)
https://www.sfchronicle.com/thetake/article/1906-San-Francisco-earthquak...
https://www.sfchronicle.com/thetake/article/1906-San-Francisco-earthquak...
More amazing is the fire hydrant. It is still there today, seen in the 2017 Google Street View of 1 Turk Street. It was also there before the fire. That photo is from the SF Public Library. https://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfphotos/AAA-9520.jpg (detail below, full photo at link)
The city directory for 1905 shows 1 Turk was owned by notorious Tenderloin crime boss Jerome Bassity. It had a tamale cafe, liquor store, and a saloon, with the Sanborn fire map noting "lodgings above" and a photographer on the third floor.
Speaking of sifting through the rubble, I think I see the metal frame of a tailor's sewing machine still standing at far right.
It always pains my heart to see nice detailed buildings being damaged or destroyed like the one barely standing in the picture. They don't make them like that anymore.
that little fixer upper is worth a pretty penny now!
I feel like I can sift through the rubble and piece things back together. Can anyone identify the brushlike thing on some sort of stand in the lower right?
I'm pretty sure Hamburger Haven on Clement Street in San Francisco has this photo framed in their back room. Strange to now see it here.
Is there any way to review the photos of San Francisco you've already posted?
[Try our handy search box. - Dave]
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