Earthquake/Fire: Jefferson Square
The 1906 earthquake and fire left about half of San Francisco's 400,000 residents homeless. By necessity, refugee camps sprang up immediately in parks and open spaces across the city. This page shows refugees in Jefferson Square (Eddy/Gough/Golden Gate/Laguna). The fire reached the SE corner of the park (Gough/Golden Gate), but buildings immediately adjacent to the park survived; Two Years After shows the burned area. Earthquake/Fire: Lafayette Park shows people watching the fire approach Lafayette Park, a dozen or so blocks to the north.
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These images look SE from Jefferson Square towards City Hall (at Larkin/McAllister, a few blocks from the present Fulton/Van Ness location).
- Britton & Rey 457, postmarked SF 8/19/1904, predating the quake.
- Mitchell shows Hotel Jefferson, on the east side of the park at Turk/Gough. The hotel survived the fire and is shown in several postcards on this page.
- Weidner 157, postmarked SF 8/19/1907, prequake image with added post-quake caption; the writer notes: "My room for 1 night, April 19-06. Under the 5th tree is where I slept the night of the big fire wild old times may never come again." St. Paulus Lutheran Church (NE corner of Gough/Eddy) at left survived the 1906 fire but was destroyed by fire in 1995.
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On earthquake day, well-dressed refugees flocked to the square.
- Weidner 238 looks southeast from Eddy/Octavia on earthquake day. The dome of City Hall, a half-dozen blocks away, peeks out at left. Smoke from the ham and eggs fire billows behind Hotel Jefferson at center (SE corner Turk/Gough).
- Weidner 248 looks north from Turk towards Eddy. The stairs at right leading up to Eddy/Octavia still remain today, though Octavia no longer runs north from Eddy. The image must date from during or just after the fire, as trunks remain packed and no tents or stoves are present.
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- Amer. Journal Examiner is one of a series of badly printed color cards distributed with Hearst newspapers across the country. This example is from the Boston Sunday American.
- Oakland Souvenir is a poorly printed card showing a "Supply Camp" with piles of open cases of food supplies and a long food line.
- Oakland Souvenir is another example of the same card, postmarked SF 9/20/06, with somewhat better printing but hard to read because of the handwritten message.
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- Spaulding 16 shows a Jefferson Square breadline, looking east toward St. Paulus Lutheran Church at Gough/Eddy.
- Rieder looks north from Turk/Octavia across Jefferson Square, with tents filling the park and stoves in the street. The large mansion at center is on the NE corner of Eddy/Octavia.
- Pacific Novelty 527, postmarked SF on 8/17/1909, looks north from Turk toward Eddy/Octavia. The scene is more settled and the tone decidedly lighter than in the preceding cards. The sender marks the tent where he lived as a refugee, and writes: "I accidently stumbled onto this card. The place marked with a cross was HOME. There was a little show space back of our tent. One of the bunch had an accordion. And the Lady I have marked saved her piano. We held a dance and singing club every night. Did we enjoy life? Well rather.".
Steve's SF postcard pages:
