Original caption: “San Francisco Earthquake of 1906: California Street looking north from Battery Street; the wholesale fruit and produce district. The low building on the left with all the chimneys, white stones and windows is the United States Appraiser’s Building, and a part of the United States Customs House. The large building with the tower and radio station on top is the Merchants’ Exchange.”
This photograph of California Street shows the damage wrought by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The quake struck on April 18, igniting several fires around the city that burned for 3 days and destroyed nearly 500 city blocks. The earthquake and fires killed an estimated 3,000 people and left half of the city’s 400,000 residents homeless.
