Color Pictures Found Of 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
A museum volunteer has unearthed what the Smithsonian Institution believes to be the first – and perhaps only – color photographs of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake and fire leveled much of the city.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the six images were snapped by color photography pioneer Frederick Eugene Ives several months after the April 1906 “Great Quake.”
National Museum of American History volunteer Anthony Brooks found the glass plate photos while cataloguing a collection donated by Ives’ son, Herbert.
The pictures are street-level shots of San Francisco’s damaged downtown and rooftop views overlooking miles of ruins.
Smithsonian curator Shannon Perlich says the images were meant to be viewed through a 3-D device Ives invented but which never became a commercial success.
