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That is making too light of the situation facing San Francisco's population when the City Hall burned following the 1906 earthquake; the loss of records may not have been the most pressing concern in the immediate aftermath but it must have been a major problem as time went on.

This is a cabinet card from the original negative from the period, probably one of many offered for sale to inhabitants who experienced the disaster as well as to curious outsiders (this one was still in San Francisco when I acquired it.) This was likely taken some days after the worst of the fires, but it is surprising that there are so few people in sight. It is interesting to speculate about whether the damage to the domed tower was due to the quake or the ensuing fires.