Views of San Francisco and Vicinity

An uncommon photographic record of pre-quake San Francisco.

“San Francisco is the most composite metropolis in existence and one of the most picturesque.” – Title Page.

This enthusiastic early 20th-century promotional piece presents San Francisco as the gem in America’s West Coast crown. A breathless introduction highlights the city’s racial diversity, attractive climate, and more. Notable images capture the Presidio, old City Hall, the Cliff House, Big Tree Grove, a panorama of the city, and several scenes in Chinatown, with the residents captioned as “a quaint and picturesque people…whatever their faults.” The Mark Hopkins Art Institute, also shown at least twice, was one of the numerous buildings destroyed by the devastating 1906 earthquake and fire that consumed much of San Francisco.

Published in San Francisco for E.P. Charlton & Company, 1905. The successful ‘five and dime’ store, established in Massachusetts in 1890, opened its first location in San Francisco that year – unfortunate timing, given the impending disaster.