Earthquake of 1906: 110 years ago today

A book entitled “The Earth Shook, The Sky Burned” captures what it was like to witness the devastation of 1906 in San Francisco, then with a population of around 400,000. The earth shook on the Peninsula as well, but the area had only 12,004 residents when the 1900 census was taken, a figure that increased to 26,585 by 1910, probably by refugees from the big city to the north.

The property damage in San Mateo County was widespread from the coast to the Bay. According to the Report of the California State Earthquake Commission published in 1908 just about every chimney collapsed, among them one in Woodside that fell on a man and killed him. For example, the report said 88 percent of the chimneys fell in Belmont. In a macabre touch, 75 percent of the monuments at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma were twisted or came down. Another common sight was landslides. The state report estimated that 800 feet of Devil’s Slide swept down to the ocean. Also on the coast, the landmark Sanchez Adobe was destroyed only to be rebuilt and is now a museum where visitors learn about the “Zorro” days of the area’s Mexican and Spanish past.

Many homes slipped off their foundations, but downtown areas with public buildings showed the most visible damage. The brick jail and the railroad freight depot in San Mateo were destroyed and an orphanage became a “heap of ruin,” reported the San Mateo Times. San Mateo, with a population of 1,800, suffered the “falling in” of both the City Hall and library.

The most lasting impression of the earthquake in San Mateo County has to be the wreckage of the courthouse on Broadway in Redwood City which had 1,653 citizens. Only the dome remained. The building was restored dome and all and was dedicated in 1910. Today, it is home to the County History Museum. Sequoia High School, then near the courthouse, was “ruined to its basement,” reported the Redwood City Times-Gazette. The front of the National Bank building fell, said the newspaper that suffered extensive damage to its own office.

Within a few days, the Times-Gazette would note in an editorial that there were “harsh ruins on all sides” but recovery had already started. The editorial added that the county was “truly blessed” that there was little loss of life, although there were “miraculous escapes.”

“New homes and public building and activities will ultimately obliterate the old and relegate that dread 18th day of April, 1906 to its place in history.”

The Rear View Mirror by history columnist Jim Clifford appears in the Daily Journal every other Monday. Objects in The Mirror are closer than they appear.