Wednesday, May 26, 2010

A Trip Back in Time to the Streets of San Francisco, Circa 1906

Saw this amazing historic video in a friend’s site. The footage is taken from the front of a streetcar traveling down Market Street in San Francisco at 10 miles an hour, only four days before the Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906. The clocktower at the end, near Embarcadero Wharf, is a local landmark that survived the devastation and still stands today. “It is believed to be the earliest 35mm film in existence and was lost for many years; it is one of the few films depicting San Francisco as it looked before the devastating earthquake and fire … and escaped destruction by virtue of the fact that it had been sent to New York by train for processing.” The music is like you’d imagine music of the spheres to be, guiding you through a time travel portal for a glimpse back in time …

Fascinating film that shows the earliest automobiles when there were no rules of the road, and it was shared with pedestrians, the horse-and-buggy, and cyclists. The people depicted seemed to have a more acute obstacle avoidance radar than we do today. Sit back and enjoy the ride. (For best results, watch it in full screen mode.)

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