120th Anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake by Zina Abbott

Today, April 18, 2026, is the 120th anniversary of an event that is considered one of the deadliest natural disasters to strike California—the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. 

Map of destroyed section San Francisco, 1906

This earthquake began on a Wednesday morning at 5:12a.m. local time when many were still in bed and others were starting to prepare for their workday. The main shaking lasted forty to sixty seconds—long for an earthquake in this state. Between the destruction to buildings caused by the quake itself and the fires that followed, over eighty percent of San Francisco was destroyed, and 200,000 people were left homeless. 3,000 people perished.

California is known for its earthquakes. I have lived through several, including one in February of 1971 when I lived in Santa Monica, one in November of 1988 when I was visiting family in Orange County (my infamous “rocking sideways toilet” tale), and the well-known October 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake which interrupted the World Series in Oakland and collapsed two major sections of San Francisco Bay Area freeway. I felt it where I lived over one-hundred miles to the southeast while sitting in my car at an intersection waiting for the light to change. The quake was strong enough that I suffered motion sickness before it ended. That one was 6.9 on the Richter Scale at its epicenter in the Santa Cruz Mountains just south of the San Francisco Bay area.

The Richter Scale did not exist until 1935. However, from the geological studies performed at the time, it is estimated that the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake was about 7.9 on the Richter Scale, with a rupture about 296 miles in length along the San Andreas fault. The epicenter was just south of San Francisco.

 

Waiting in a provisions line

Many affected residents who were able, dressed as quickly as they could in their best. However, because they feared the aftershocks might cause additional damage and trap them inside their buildings, few gathered many of their belongings to take with them as they fled their homes.

Below is a pictorial history of this earthquake.

Damage to homes:

 

Rescuing people from ruins

Houses on Howard St. (Now S. Van Ness) near 17th Street

 Damage to roads and infrastructure:

Overturned locomotive

Fissure in street

Union Street streetcar line damage

Damage to the Summit Tunnel shows how far the ground shifted

Road damage to Union Street

 Fires started as a result of the earthquake:

Sacramento Street. With nowhere to go, many residents in shock watched the fires approach, moving back as the flames grew closer.

Many structures that survived the earthquake fell to the flames

Firefighters fought the flames

 

Soldiers were called in to maintain order and guard banks. A few were caught looting.

 

Winchester Hotel burns after the earthquake. The Hearst Building (left) was dynamited to use as a fire break between the fire and the rest of the city.

The fire marshal ordered several buildings torn down to stop the fires.

Chinatown was destroyed

Refugees:

 

Food was sent from surrounding cities

Food lines

Food stored at Moulder Warehouse

Food received for Moulder Warehouse

Street kitchens

Refugees gathered at the Dewey Monument

After the destruction ends:

Post and Grant Avenue, looking NE

Observatory in ruins

View from Kearny Street

Market Street

Refugee housing:

Many San Franciscans crowded the ferries to cross the bay to Oakland, where structures still stood and the telegraph was still available. 

For a silent movie of San Franciscans riding the ferry to Oakland, which was filmed at the time, please click on the link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:San_Francisco_earthquake_and_fire,_April_18,_1906.webm

For those who stayed, temporary housing was provided.

Jefferson Street Refugee Camp

1 of 11 refugee shack camps

Refugee cottages preserved in Presidio Park

Refugee housing

 Rebuilding: 

Cleaning bricks

 

Clearing away debris

This as a disaster known across the nation, and one to which the nation responded with support as the city rebuilt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are still with me, my upcoming release is dated between 1903 and 1908. My hero grew up in turn-of-the-century San Francisco, and returns to check on family once he learns of the earthquake.

Ardith Yosemite Bride is scheduled for release on May 6, 2026. To find the book description and pre-order link, please CLICK HERE

   

 

 

 

Sources:

Wikipedia

Wikimedia Commons 

Sometimes the Smallest

Post (C) Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Image (C) Doris McCraw

 “The minor events of history are valuable, although not always showy and picturesque.”  Mark Twain

I find this quote by Mark Twain particularly applicable. It is the little things that add up to a rather amazing whole.

Dr. Susan Anderson

If Dr. Susan Anderson’s father had not moved to Cripple Creek in the 1890s, she would not have returned there after medical school. When establishing a practice in that town did not work out, she eventually went to Fraser, where she met the woman who would later write her story, Doc Susie.

Winfield Scott Stratton

Winfield Scott Stratton, Cripple Creek’s first millionaire, rose from the ranks of prospectors. Through his influence and financial support, many miners and mine owners owed their livelihoods to him. The labor strike of 1893–94 ended with miners securing an eight-hour workday and $3.00 per day pay. After he died in 1902, the miners’ union lost the 1903–04 strike. Were the two events connected? Again, Twain’s idea of “minor events” holds weight.

My Father

In 1930, my father was born at home, three months premature. He weighed 2 pounds, 9 ounces. To keep him warm and alive, they placed him in a shoebox on the oven door. They also gave him a shot of whiskey every hour. Those actions likely saved his life. Something as minor as a shoebox, a bottle of whiskey, and a warm oven made all the difference.

Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell

When Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman in the United States to graduate from medical school, was accepted into Geneva College in New York, it was considered a joke. She chose not to see it that way and graduated in 1849.

The next time you look at history, whether personal or national, consider the minor events. See where their story leads you. You might be surprised.

The same can be said for the stories we read. The smallest thing can lead to unexpected results. What is the smallest thing in a book you read that led to something wonderful?

Until next time,

Stay safe and keep reading and writing.

Doris

Angela Raines - Amazon

Doris A. McCraw - Amazon

Orphan Trains: The Journey Was only the Beginning

 By Kimberly Grist

Spring brings thoughts of fresh starts—but in the mid-1800s, many U.S. cities had large populations living in poverty.

As a result, thousands of children lived on the streets of several major cities, and it is estimated that over 10,000 homeless children lived on the streets of New York City at any given time.

[Photos by Jacob Riis, taken in the 1890s]

The children searched for food and shelter, selling rags, matches, and newspapers to survive. Many joined gangs for protection and were often arrested—some as young as five were placed in lock-up facilities with adult criminals.

In response, Charles Loring Brace, a minister and founder of the Children’s Aid Society, saw the need for something different. Orphanages were often overcrowded and offered little education or preparation for the future. He believed children would be better off in homes rather than institutions and proposed sending them west to live with pioneer families.

Brace trusted that those families would welcome the children, take them in as their own, and offer them not only a place to work but also a place to belong. In his view, the arrangement would serve both sides, helping families on the frontier while giving children a chance at a new beginning.       

Orphan Trains as a precursor to the foster care system

And so began what became known as the orphan trains—part of a broader effort at the time called the “placing out system,” which relied on existing passenger trains to carry children west at reduced fares.



Some found loving homes.
Others found something far different.

Those who started the program felt that relying on the kindness of strangers was a better alternative to a life in an institution or on the street. However, the results were mixed. Reportedly, for some, being chosen from the crowd and taken in as part of a family was the moment where their life began. Unfortunately, others served as unpaid laborers and were not even allowed to sleep in the house. Others' fate was even worse.

 

Photo courtesy of https://orphantraindepot.org/history/

 A Frontier Reflection

For an orphan, the chance for a fresh start hinges on the choice of those willing to welcome them. This delicate balance—between necessity and compassion—served as a key inspiration for the hero in my latest release, Brady’s Burden.

Taking in orphaned boys to work a ranch may seem a practical arrangement at first. Yet what begins as need soon grows into something deeper—shaped through hardship, patience, and shared purpose.

New Release Now available on Amazon—and in Kindle Unlimited.
If you enjoy stories of second chances, chosen family, and adventures on the frontier, you won’t want to miss my latest release, Brady’s Burden—where the past lingers, and a new path must be forged.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G2NRSBZK

If you enjoy a stubborn rancher set in his ways and a woman with enough warmth—and humor—to challenge him… this is a story where storms don’t always get the final say.

Tulip Time

 

My tulips are blooming and filling my flower beds with a colorful display that makes me smile every time I set foot outside. 

These tulip bulbs came from bulbs my husband's grandmother transplanted from her mother's yard back in the 1950s. I felt very fortunate to get a few of them because they are so pretty and different from today's modern bulbs. 

I'm thrilled with the modern stripe and colors, though.

It's so fun to see them blooming. 

And it makes me wonder about the women who lived in rough, rugged places on the frontier. Did they plant tulips for a bit of color?

Or reminders of home? 

Tulips have such an interesting history. They’ve traveled continents, inspired art, and even caused one of the first economic bubbles in history.

Although many people assume they originated in the Netherlands, they were first discovered growing in the Near East and Mediterranean on mountain slopes and steppes. Those tulips looked different than today's garden varieties, with smaller petals and thinner leaves. 

Tulips were cultivated and cherished by the Ottoman Empire (modern-day Turkey) as early as the 10th century. The flowers became symbols of paradise, beauty, and abundance. Even the word tulip reportedly comes from a Persian/Turkish word meaning “turban,” because the flower resembled the shape.

Tulips made their way to Europe in the 1500s. The first recorded use of the word "tulip" was in a 1554 manuscript.  A few years later, the flowers were being cultivated although they remained aa bit of a rarity.

In 1590s Holland, Charles L’Ecluse planted the flower at the University of Leiden’s gardens – a leader in botanical innovation – and discovered it could tolerate Northern Europe’s harsh climate. 

For the wealthy, tulips became a symbol of luxury. The unusual colors and patterns made them highly desirable. 

Tulip bulbs were used for trade and lead to a period widely called “Tulip Mania,” which occurred in Amsterdam from 1634 to 1637. During this period, a single bulb could allegedly go for as much as 12,000 guilders – about the price of a fashionable Amsterdam townhouse.

Then the market fell out just as suddenly as it surged, but tulips were still planted. Still adored. 

Tulips traveled to America back in the 1600s. Although The Netherlands is still the leading grower of tulips in the world, there are many places across America that grow them commercially.  I wonder that those pioneer women would think to see acres of land covered in gorgeous tulips.

I bet they'd take a moment just to enjoy the splendor of fields bursting with color. 

What is your favorite spring flower?

USA Today Bestselling Author Shanna Hatfield grew up on a farm where her childhood brimmed with sunshine, hay fever, and an ongoing supply of learning experiences.

Shanna creates character-driven romances with realistic heroes and heroines. Her historical westerns have been described as “reminiscent of the era captured by Bonanza and The Virginian” while her contemporary works have been called “laugh-out-loud funny, and a little heart-pumping sexy without being explicit in any way.”

When this award-winning author isn’t writing or testing out new recipes (she loves to bake!), Shanna hangs out at home in the Pacific Northwest with her beloved husband, better known as Captain Cavedweller.

Find out more about Shanna and the sweet romances she writes on her website.