When San Francisco burned down - six times in a year and a half
Gary Kamiya
FacebookTwitterEmail
1of2
An illustration of the San Francisco fire of May 4, 1850, from “The Annals of San Francisco.”“The Annals of San Francisco”Show MoreShow Less
2of2
Boats on the San Francisco waterfront in 1849, depicted in a lithograph.Hanhart / MPI / Getty ImagesShow MoreShow Less
Everyone knows that San Francisco was consumed by flames after the 1906 earthquake. But it’s less widely known that the city was also devastated by a succession of fires during the Gold Rush.
No fewer than six destructive conflagrations ravaged the infant city in just 18 months the greatest number of major fires ever to strike any American city in such a short time.