Enhanced Colorized Footage of San Francisco’s Market Street Just Four Days Before the 1906 Earthquake

Video restorer NASS took vintage footage of a very busy San Francisco street taken from a cable car on April 14, 1906, just four days before the tragic earthquake that shook the city and its surrounding areas to near ruin. This trip takes the viewer eastward down Market Street towards the cable car turnaround at the Ferry Building.

New Version of footage San Francisco 1906, A Trip Down Market Street, Shot on April 14, 1906, four days before the San Francisco earthquake and fire.

Like previous restorations, NASS enhanced the color, sound, and general viewability. This includes boosting the footage speed to 60 fps, refining resolution to high-definition, improving the tone of the scene, and adding color and sound for ambiance.

The original footage is stored at the Prelinger Archives in San Francisco.

It was produced by moving picture photographers the Miles brothers: Harry, Herbert, Earle and Joe. Harry J. Miles hand-cranked the Bell & Howell camera which was placed on the front of a streetcar during filming on Market Street from 8th, in front of the Miles Studios, to the Ferry Building.