Shock Waves Of 1906

Note: I have not finished watching this but did start it. When I have completed watching it I shall share my insights here.

Ruins of a 1906 Quake-Damaged Winery

Yesterday I had the privilege of revisiting the ruin of the Gallegos/Palmdale Winery built in 1881 and destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. The location of this site is the vacant lot on the southeast corner of Driscoll Road and Washington Boulevard. in Fremont, CA. I visited this location back in 2008 or thereabouts with my then-girlfriend. At that time a major capital project was taking place at that intersection and the fence surrounding the ruin was partly knocked down allowing the two of us to explore the site. The construction in the area is now complete and the site fenced in with a high chain link fence topped with slanted barbed wire. However, I was able to capture the following images of the site from outside the fence. I would have preferred to have taken these images in sunny weather but these cloudy weather images will have to suffice.

NOTE: I wish to convey my thanks to Dan Dawson for discovering for me the name of this winery and a link to a wonderful article about it by Ralph de Unamuno of Purple Tongue Press.

There is a concrete path for wheel ruts to drive up (or walk up) from the parking location down the street from the intersection of Driscoll Rd. and Washington Blvd. in Fremont, CA.

All that remains of the winery are the back walls and presumably the foundation.

Date palms have taken over the site of the ruin.

Some interesting structural details remain.

A veritable Garden of Eden has filled in the site of the ruined winery.

Clearly these date palms were planted in a line forming a hedge.

I sure wish the fence weren't in place but I realize it protects the location from those who respect it less than I do.

There is a small antenna in this image and out of frame to the right the intriguing entrance to a dark cellar.

Grandma and Mom and Tequila walking back from the winery ruin.

All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved)

A Trip Down Market Street

The historic silent film "A Trip Down Market Street" has been around in bits and pieces in an inferior condition for years. However, in recent years the entire film was digitally-restored to it's original complete length by the commission of San Francisco film archivist Rick Prelinger. After some thorough detective work by Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum archivist David Kiehn it was incontrovertibly determined to have been recorded by the Miles Brothers on April 14, 1906. This was a mere four days before the infamous earthquake struck The City and the ensuing urban fire storms consumed most of  The City including the Miles Brother's studio and archives. It is haunting and mesmerizing watching this film as the ghosts of people and buildings and various modes of transport pass before the camera and pass before history itself. Some of the individuals seen in this film undoubtedly died or were injured four days later. This is the purest version of the film extant on the internet. I prefer its stark silence in contrast to the many other versions on the internet that feature musical soundtracks.

Ghosts of 1906 Endure in Santa Rosa

Last weekend while I was in Santa Rosa having breakfast three consecutive mornings at Omelette Express on Fourth Street in the old original downtown historic district now known as Railroad Square one building in particular attracted my attention. I already knew that this town was utterly devastated by the 1906 Northern California Great Earthquake with greater per capita death and destruction than any other city affected by the disaster, including San Francisco. I also know that it has always been a rather common practice (even up to the present) to recycle bricks from older buildings that are demolished disastrously or intentionally. Something about the texture of the old Jacobs Building (formerly the Hotel Oliver and built in 1910 in the Mission Revival Style and a nod goes to reader Stacey for this information) as I viewed it while walking past it going to and from my yummy omelet breakfast caught my mind's eye. I noticed older bricks that appeared damaged, some of them as if by fire (fire did follow the 1906 earthquake here with equal destructiveness and deadliness as in San Francisco), incorporated into the brick facade. These seemingly fire-damaged bricks were only showing their ends as they were placed side to side and not end to end like the regular-looking bricks were and they also stuck out noticeably further than the regular bricks. I later found out from reader Stacey that these were not fire-damaged bricks from the disaster but rather partially-vitrified "clinker bricks" which were popular a century ago. The net effect was aesthetically pleasing but the sight of those burnt-looking bricks was a sobering reminder that most of this town's nearly 100 fatalities happened right here in this district with many burning alive while trapped in the rubble. Nowadays the first floor of the building is 6500 square feet of commercial retail space while the upper floors are rental apartments.




Photo Credit: Kim Patrick Noyes (All Right Reserved)