# San Francisco in 1906 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 9, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229 "2010-02-09T03:03:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rafe\_Hollister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Rafe\_Hollister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rafe_Hollister)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229/1 "2010-02-09T03:03:54Z")
[Shot from front of a streetcar](http://www.flixxy.com/san-francisco-1905-historical-footage.htm) This fascinating bit of film was shot from a San Francisco Market Street trolley car and it’s believed to have been taken just a few days before the 1906 earthquake. Some comment from a local historian: This film was in a film museum and classified “1905 or 1906”, but recent research by experts concludes that it was probably made on Monday, April 16, 1906 or Tuesday, April 17! Clues to the date included the angle of shadows indicating the month, licenses visible on some of the vehicles, some of the automobiles shown, the movie that was showing on a theater that’s passed, and even some puddles seen in the street (it rained on the 16th). Yep, a day or two before the great earthquake and fire - and this film had been immediately sent to New York by train for developing. Most everything seen in this film was destroyed less than a week later. It’s interesting to watch the traffic and the chances people took when crossing the street. Street accidents were endemic throughout the U.S. as the country changed with the advent of the horseless carriage. The cable cars that are visible were running at a predictable 9.2 MPH. Horses moved slowly on city streets too. But the automobile could reach speeds of 20 MPH! Early autos had the steering wheel on the right, then it was standardized to the left. The rules of the road were evolving. Major train crossings had crossing lights, but rural crossings were only marked with a sign and you were responsible for your own safety in crossing the tracks and looking for the train coming. Even signal lights in cities didn’t evolve until the 1920s. The cop directing traffic was about the only traffic control in use until then. As life sped up, we devised ways to protect the public, but it evolved slowly and unfortunately a lot of people died getting to where we have some civility on city streets. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229/2 "2010-02-09T03:17:47Z")
> [@Rafe\_Hollister](#): > > It’s interesting to watch the traffic and the chances people took when crossing the street. Have you driven down Market street lately? It’s not gotten any better in the last hundred years. Seriously, though, that’s a very cool film. Thanks for sharing it. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229/3 "2010-02-09T04:11:56Z")
Also interesting: [a side-by-side comparison with the aftermath of the quake](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TaxcXfSwdE). ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229/4 "2010-02-09T05:01:16Z")
[Compare Today](http://maps.google.com/maps?client=firefox-a&channel=s&hl=en&source=hp&q=san+francisco,+ca&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=San+Francisco,+California&gl=us&ei=D-pwS97JF4KyswPK-fmiCA&ved=0CAwQ8gEwAA&ll=37.792912,-122.396812&spn=0,359.986224&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=37.792977,-122.396717&panoid=eGo_eVxIsHaAyCJ9kKW_VQ&cbp=12,67.69,,0,5) ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229/5 "2010-02-09T05:11:30Z")
[Berkeley, CA 1906](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1L5WgCxvVA) ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229/6 "2010-02-09T05:25:46Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > [Berkeley, CA 1906](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1L5WgCxvVA) [Berkeley today](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=euclid+%26+hearst,+berkeley,+ca&sll=37.872143,-122.272682&sspn=0.127105,0.308647&gl=us&g=berkeley,+ca&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Hearst+Ave+%26+Euclid+Ave,+Berkeley,+Alameda,+California+94709&ll=37.873473,-122.266132&spn=0.001986,0.006866&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=37.873369,-122.266115&panoid=OLgYXDDH5E9Sq8IdIQLuww&cbp=12,13.07,,0,5) The trolley in the video started about here (northbound Oxford & Berkeley), then made a right onto Hearst, and a left onto Euclid. The [fire in 1923](http://www.archive.org/details/berkeley_fire) destroyed a lot of the buildings shown in the video. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229/7 "2010-02-09T05:54:56Z")
There certainly are a lot of people taking their lives into their hands crossing the street - and the little boys often seem to be crossing just for fun! It’s also interesting to see how many more pedestrians there were around - I guess that is because there were much fewer cars on the road. It just looks like absolute chaos! Thanks for sharing that cool piece of film. Do you know any more about it? Why would something like that have been filmed and rush shipped to NYC? Some kind of tourist thing? It strikes me that a chunk of film that long could not have been cheap in those days. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229/8 "2010-02-09T05:58:06Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > [Compare Today](http://maps.google.com/maps?client=firefox-a&channel=s&hl=en&source=hp&q=san+francisco,+ca&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=San+Francisco,+California&gl=us&ei=D-pwS97JF4KyswPK-fmiCA&ved=0CAwQ8gEwAA&ll=37.792912,-122.396812&spn=0,359.986224&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=37.792977,-122.396717&panoid=eGo_eVxIsHaAyCJ9kKW_VQ&cbp=12,67.69,,0,5) Or, for even more apt comparison: [a 2005 video down Market Street](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqcz_tllnwM) ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229/9 "2010-02-09T07:13:09Z")
OK, I think I understand why life expentancy was so short back then. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229/10 "2010-02-09T07:26:12Z")
I wonder how much people grumbled about the nanny state when jaywalking laws came about. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229/11 "2010-02-11T17:22:16Z")
It’s been on Prelinger for several years. But still, a great film. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229/12 "2010-02-11T17:30:25Z")
I was there a few months ago. It’s amazing to me how much more orderly it is today. And how hugely crowded it is. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229/13 "2010-02-11T17:43:51Z")
It didn’t seem particularly disorderly to me. One of the automobiles did cut fairly close in front of the trolley, but everybody crossing the street was doing it safely. Barcelona seems a lot more crowded and disorderly. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229/14 "2010-02-11T18:17:39Z")
There is a weird sense of ordered chaos. Considering the intersection of four travel forms; Streetcar, Cars, Horse and buggy, and walking. Overall speeds are so low it seems like everybody expects things to just all work out. With the exception of a few surprised glances and springing out of the way, there is surprisingly little concern from anybody, and I really don’t see anything that looks like anger at being cut off. Also very little ‘looking both ways’ before crossing. That is a damn wide road though, so I guess everybody just finds their own way. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229/15 "2010-02-11T18:23:07Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > That is a damn wide road though, The width of Market Street was controversial back in the day. > [@](#): > > When the engineer [O’Farrell] had completed his map of Market Street and the southern part of the city, what was regarded as the abnormal width of the proposed street excited part of the populace, and an indignation meeting was held to protest against the plan as wanton disregard for rights of landowners; and the mob, for such it was, decided for lynch law. A friend warned O’Farrell, before the crowd had dispersed. He rode with all haste to North Beach, took a boat for Sausalito, and thence put distance behind him on fast horses in relay until he reached his retreat in Sonoma. He found it discreet to remain some time in the country before venturing to return to the city." ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229/16 "2010-02-11T18:31:30Z")
Hehe, City planning meetings must have been so much more fun in the old days. 🙂 Planner: I would like to explain the concept of “eminent domain”, now this means… Citizens: Git a rope. Planner: Aieeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Run away! Thanks, though that’s cool. I was curious why, most other 18th century and before streets you see are tiny.(Well with the exception of the avenues where the kings liked to show off their shiny new soldiers and cannons.) ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229/17 "2010-02-11T18:42:39Z")
All that cutting-off and chaos and not one person flipping the bird. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229/18 "2010-02-11T19:01:29Z")
No panhandlers in sight, either. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229/19 "2010-02-11T19:15:27Z")
That doesn’t look that chaotic to me. Market St. is worse today, if only because the traffic lights are really confusing. If you haven’t experienced the joy, Market St. is where two different grid systems - that are at different angles to each other - come together, so the intersections are really oddly shaped. There are traffic lights pointing in all directions, and figuring out which one you’re supposed to be looking at can be really confusing - not to mention really dangerous. Also, once when I was in college, a friend and I were stopped at a red light on Market St. when a guy stepped off the curb, started banging on the hood of her car, screaming “YOU FUCKING BITCH! FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING BITCH!” So that was surprising. I have to admit that my idea of chaotic traffic has probably been permanently colored by the fact that I spent last summer in India. Now _that_ is chaotic traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229/20 "2010-02-11T19:23:55Z")
[India Driving](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjrEQaG5jPM) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-in-1906/528229.md?page=2)