Earthquake/Fire: Lafayette Park
Lafayette Park occupies a steeply sloped site at Gough/Sacramento/Laguna/Washington. The post-quake fires on earthquake day (4/18/1906) were far away, but early on day 2 (4/19/1906) fire from Chinatown crested Nob Hill and rapidly spread west through Polk Gulch, while at the same time fire from near City Hall proceeded north along Van Ness. Faced with a tenuous water supply, firemen fought to keep the fire from spreading further west by dynamiting large homes on the east side of Van Ness to create a fire break. The fire crossed to the west side of Van Ness at Sutter and burned west to Franklin and then north, but firefighters stopped its western advance at Franklin/Clay (a block from Lafayette Park) at around 3 AM on day 3 (4/20/1906).
Kennedy's fire timeline describes the progress of the fire in detail. 1905 Sanborn (V. 3 sheet 260) shows details of the area before the fire. Punnett's Two Years After map shows the burned area.
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- Weidner 212, postmarked SF 4/15/1907, looks southeast from near Clay/Gough toward downtown on day 1, with only a very few spectators looking at the distant fires. Clay is just past the left edge; the house at left is 1941 Clay (southeast corner Gough/Clay), with the tower of 1939 Clay just beyond. The top floors of the back of the St. Francis Hotel peek over the horizon just left of center, with the dome of the Call building just beyond. Center house: 1915 Gough. Right edge: 1812/1814 Gough. Behrendt 229 shows the same image with dramatic coloring of flames added.
- Weidner 229 looks east over Polk Gulch from the top of the ridge in the park. Center, below the people on the ridge: roof of 1915 Gough. Right center: top floors of the St. Francis Hotel with the dome of the Call just beyond.
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These postcards all show the same view; a higher resolution image is here. Later on day 2, a large tent has been erected, the park is filling with refugees and their belongings, and the fire is much closer. The houses at 1812/1814 Gough again appear at the right edge. Just left of the woman's white blouse is 1919 Sacramento, still standing in 2020.
- Rieder, postmarked Oakland 5/16/1906, less than a month after the earthquake and fire.
- Behrendt 212, same image as preceding. The image also appears in Behrendt's souvenir folder Destruction of San Francisco by Fire and Earthquake, similarly titled "Watching the Fire". Unknown publisher 212 (same stock number, so presumably Behrendt) colors and enhances the image with sensationalized flames.
- Weidner 210, postmarked U.S.S. South Dakota, postmark date illegible but message dated 2/20/1910; colorized version of same image.
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- Rotograph, postmarked 2/13/1907, looks east across Gough between Washington and Clay on the night of day 2 or early morning of day 3. The foreground houses are 2010/2004/2000 Gough (northeast corner Gough/Washington). The fire is very close. A resident noted that crews "were dynamiting Van Ness and the noise was terrific. After each explosion the aire would be filled with feathery cinders that fell on our clothes and covered our hats."
Steve's SF postcard pages:
