The resurrection after 1906: Rare, private photos of SF clawing back after quake

Razing the walls of the old Palace Hotel, one of the most spectacular photographs taken during the rebuilding of San Francisco. These walls were pulled down with wire cables operated by donkey engine. "The New San Francisco - Two Years After the Great Fire" less Razing the walls of the old Palace Hotel, one of the most spectacular photographs taken during the rebuilding of San Francisco. These walls were pulled down with wire cables operated by donkey engine. "The New ... more Photo: From The Collection Of Bob Bragman Photo: From The Collection Of Bob Bragman Image 1 of / 130 Caption Close The resurrection after 1906: Rare, private photos of SF clawing back after quake 1 / 130 Back to Gallery

Very shortly after the earth rumbled and the fires raged on April 18, 1906, thousands flocked to San Francisco to document unimaginable destruction. A vast portion of the city lay in utter ruin. Due to the enormity of the event and its aftermath, there is much documentation depicting the horror that reigned. But, like a mourned death, soon people went back to where they came from, leaving San Francisco citizens to pick up the pieces.

While there was documentation of the rebirth of one of America's much loved cities, it's much less prevalent. I was thrilled to find a booklet on a recent trip to a flea market, entitled "The New San Francisco — Two Years After the Great Fire." According to this publication, nearly five square miles and 28,000 structures were destroyed. The dollar value was conservatively put at $350 million at that time. According to an inflation calculator, that would be approximately $9.5 billion today.

Two years after the earthquake and fire, the city had spent approximately $100 million toward reconstruction, about $2.7 billion in today's currency. It was said that little Eastern capital was available toward the effort. And a hard lesson was learned. It was a lack of water to fight the fire, not the earthquake itself, that caused most of the devastation.

Proposals called to create a high-pressure water system, an electrical firefighting and police system, water reservoirs on the higher hills (Twin Peaks had one), powerful fire boats, and 100 concrete cisterns that could each hold 100,000 gallons of water, for emergency purposes only.

Part of San Francisco's rapid reconstruction was due to insurance companies disbursing an astounding $180 million. Merchants and business leaders worked tirelessly to bring San Francisco back to greatness. It was said that very few businesses failed due to the tragedy.

The images in the brochure show temporary structures, buildings reconstructed midway, some near completion, and in some cases, areas that had returned to normalcy. While the article and most of the images focus on the rebuilding of the city, the last part of the gallery shows some rare or unseen photos and images from the author's private collection.