Today we are looking at the 1906 Great San Francisco Earthquake Post Office Postcards, Mail, and Letter Writers. It was on this day, April 18, 1906, The Great San Francisco Earthquake happened. We have an article at the Postal Museum, Photos of the San Francisco Post Office in postcards and even a 2006 book with letter writers from the time.
Smithsonian National Postal Museum
Over at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, there is an article from October 2011 on San Francisco Earthquake Mail.
“At 5:12 a.m. on April 18, 1906, an earthquake devastated San Francisco, California, and shook nearly the entire west coast of the United States. … They transmitted their last message at 2:20 p.m. The earthquake and fires caused hundreds of deaths and millions of dollars in losses. Fortunately, the gorgeous United States post office at 7th and Mission, opened in 1905, survived. The natural catastrophe ranks among the worst in United States history.”
The article includes some great photos and a very nice article you’ll want to read all of it!
Post Office Postcards website
At the “Post Office Postcards” website there is a wonderful collection of postcards for San Francisco, CA including the image of the postcard upper left showing the Post Office withstood it. In the image below the postcard is attributed as “For a time, the city’s post office carried out its duties… in tents, such as this one in Golden Gate Park…” 
Book by Dorothy Fowler
This book by Dorothy Fowler I’m finding at Barnes & Noble; it is entitled “A Most Dreadful Earthquake: A First-Hand Account of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire- with Glimpses into the Lives of the Phillips-Jones Letter Writers”. The Overview begins with:
“When a ribbon-bound packet of forty yellowing hundred-year-old letters turned up in their archives, readers at California Genealogical Society knew right away that the story was too good to leave in the box. Author Dorothy Fowler began the search for identities of the letter writers…”. This is definitely one I’m ordering to read the story!
Obviously, we have enough going on here to have us come back another day and spend some detailed time to explore further. For today, it was to take note of the day in letter writing history. Stay tuned, more to follow in a future daily blog post!
Anchors Aweigh,
Helen
1906 Great San Francisco Earthquake Post Office Postcards, Mail, and Letter Writers Attribution & Thank you to the following who are referenced today
“San Francisco Earthquake Mail”, Written by Marvin Murray, Assistant Curator of Philately, Smithsonian National Postal Museum, October 2011, Excerpt and image.
Two images above and excerpt Post Office Post Cards from San Francisco, CA,
Dorothy Fowler Barnes & Noble;”A Most Dreadful Earthquake: A First-Hand Account of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire- with Glimpses into the Lives of the Phillips-Jones Letter Writers”. 2006. Image of book cover, and excerpt.
