This film was shot on April 14, 1906, just four days before the San Francisco earthquake and fire. 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. The video shows what life was like over 100 years ago. There is sound for the video as well. Please leave a comment after watching the video.
I’m sure glad we have traffic lights now!! That street looks really dangerous! 😳
Why were the people running through the streets?
Great video! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Mason,
Thanks for leaving a comment. I think some of the kids were running in front of the streetcar because they wanted to be in the movie. At the time a film camera was a new and unique technology.
I really like this video, I think it was really crazy. It looks very different.
It is a fun video. Cars are driving all over the place. People are crossing the road without fear and looking.
I watched the video many times. I like that you could hear the noises in the background like the piano and the galloping horses.
Great comment Maya. I’m glad you liked the video.
Great observations Olivia. I’m glad you thought the video was fun to watch.
Yes, it is very different. This is what life was like in San Francisco 110 years ago.
Interesting that some of the horses were going faster than the cars!
We couldn’t believe all the cars and horses and people going all over the place. We saw the policeman had a club instead of a gun. We noticed all the women were wearing dresses and all the men wore hats!
I wonder if the clothes had colours or were just black and white. You can’t tell because the video is in black and white.
i liked how the people dressed and the kids sending news paper and people
running on the street we saw 2 people almost die and the camera almost knocked
over by a horse
bye
I loved the video and it was great because the clothes that the people wore was really really different than the clothes we wear today. I can not believe that the kids rode on the back of the cars and it was awesome, and I enjoyed watching the video a lot.
It was crazy how people crossed the road with looking and how the cars didn’t follow a lane. Also it was strange to not see any traffic lights.
Why aren’t the people watching out when they are crossing the road?
i like how they had to run across the road
This video is awesome. The horses are so cool. Its crazy how everyone is just crossing the street in front of cars and carts.
it was cool how the trolleys were randomly crossing the street out of nowhere!
hi Mr. Preshaw ,
its really weird how it looks like there is no speed limit
I loved the video. When I saw it I freaked out! I cannot believe how they treated the horses. I loved how they dressed.
I don’t know why they are crossing the street all the time
I liked how people can go on little wagons whenever they want. People back then were crazy! Before the earthquake and fire it was good but after the earthquake and fire a lot of people died and that was very sad.