A Century Ago ...

Today is the 100th anniversary of the great San Francisco Earthquake. We've heard a lot about it in the past month or two as the news media and the city prepared for programs and commemorations of the event that devastated the city and many other small cities and towns in the Bay area.

The San Francisco ABC affiliate has a slide show on its home page that I would recommend. Most of the images are from the USGS. Here are a few samples.







It was reported that a few hundred people died in the quake, but that number may have been underreported. There just wasn't the amount of technology or paperwork in people's lives that there is today, and additionally the city officials may have wanted to keep the number low so that people would continue to come here.

Whatever the reason, a local retired librarian has spent a lot of time researching the number of casualties for families doing genealogical research. She has confirmed that many people lived in the city prior to the quake through city directories and census information but many of those people simply are not in subsequent city directories or do not appear in records of any kind after April 1906. I think she is doing an amazing thing -- helping people "find" lost relatives.

And on a completely unrelated note:
The dresser is sanded, the dust has settled and been swept or vacuumed up, and the pieces are now waiting for the tack rag (which is sticky cheesecloth that picks up dust) before I start staining. I am going to try to get to that today after the last load of laundry is done. It's sunny again today (miracle of miracles!) so my wild children may actually be able to spend some time outside. Wish me luck!!!