1906 Refugee Cottages

After the earthquake and fire of April 1906, thousands of refugees existed in San Francisco. The largest public relief effort to date was mounted to alleviate the suffering of these now homeless people. Over 5000 cottages were built in city parks. Camps in public parks around the city existed until mid to late 1907 after which they were taken by their residents to private lots. This is a sampling of cottages both in the parks and in locations to which they were moved. A handful still exist today around the city and bay area.