wnp14.13437

View from Nob Hill

April 18, 1906

1906 Earthquake and Fire, view south from Nob Hill showing wall of smoke south of Market, City Hall and Hall of Records in background right. Nob Hill buildings still intact before the fire reached them. The view is from the roof of the Tobin mansion at the southeast corner of California and Taylor (1871), now the site of the Huntington Hotel. Immediately left of Tobin's dormer is the five-story Hotel Bella Vista, built in 1883-1884 for Teresa Fair. To its left, at the southwest corner of Bush and Taylor, is a seven-story brick apartment building completed in late 1905. To its left, at the southeast corner of Pine and Taylor (across the street from the Bella Vista) is a five-story wood-framed apartment building built in 1903. (WMK)