Earthquake Shacks
Refugee Camp, Franklin Square, 1907. Courtesy of the San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.
Photo Credits and information from the Western Neighborhood Project.
Update: I’ve added an interior picture to the bottom of the post.
Earthquake refugee cottages, or “shacks” were built by the Department of Lands and Buildings of the Relief Corporation to house refugees from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire.
5,610 cottages were constructed to house over 16,000 San Franciscans in 11 refugee camps in locations including Dolores Park, Washington Square, Precita Park, Portsmouth Square, and today’s Park-Presidio Boulevard.
Union carpenters built three main sizes of cottages between September 1906 and March 1907. Cottages had cedar-shingle roofs, fir floors and redwood walls. All were painted green to better blend into the parks and public squares in which they were erected.
When the camps began closing in August 1907, refugees hauled cottages to private lots, and often cobbled together two or more to form larger residences. Of the 5,343 moved from the camps only a handful are certified to still be standing.
Earthquake cottages came back in the public eye in the early 1980s, when “shack activist” Jane F. Cryan began lobbying for their preservation. Her efforts created City Landmark #171, a complex of four shacks at 1227 - 24th Avenue, and helped rescue two others that are on public display in the Presidio of San Francisco.
Learn more about the 1906 Earthquake Shacks from the Western Neighborhood Projects here.
Restored Back of Shack
Front of Shack Restoration
Shack Floor Restoration
March 19, 2006, celebrating the restoration of Shack One.
Shacks on the Presidio
Interior Restored Shack
If you enjoyed this post, subscribe to our feed
Loading ...
Jeff on 27 Oct 2008 at 4:54 am #
Its amazing how clean the street is in picture #1
Michael Janzen on 27 Oct 2008 at 6:36 am #
Love to see tiny houses from the past. Interesting how similar in size, shape, and aesthetic it is to the tiny houses we’re building today. Some things must just work.
Ben on 27 Oct 2008 at 7:19 am #
Compare to the FEMA trailers in New Orleans, which are apparently making their residents sick. It’s crazy how nice these are in comparison.
Denise on 27 Oct 2008 at 2:33 pm #
Hmmmm, what is the size of these shack’s? How did they cook?
Kent on 27 Oct 2008 at 3:27 pm #
Hi Denise,
The size of the shacks were 10 x 14 feet. I am trying to find some historic pictures of the insides of the shacks. No luck so far, if I find some I’ll post them to the blog.
Mary on 27 Oct 2008 at 5:37 pm #
Like Ben said, how could we go from those little cottages to FEMA trailers in 100 years? Doesn’t seem like progress…….
That said, I’m looking at those interior shots thinking, “you could put a little kitchen area here, small bath w/composting toilets and shower over there…”
Would guess that when people used these after the earthquake, they cooked outside. Maybe even a lot of community, shared cooking efforts amongst groups of cottages.
Mary on 27 Oct 2008 at 5:42 pm #
Looking closer, those windows look like forerunners to casement windows. They pivot from the center rather than swing out from the end, but similar concept.
One long side wall has several windows, the other none—for solar gain on the south, and protection from cold winds on the north?
As Michael said, some things just work.
??????????????? on 28 Oct 2008 at 3:52 am #
?????????…
????????????????????????????????????…
donflan on 29 Oct 2008 at 8:11 am #
has no one so far referred to Jane Cryan as a “shacktivist”?