Homeless in front of City Hall, 1906

City Hall has been a magnet for homeless encampments for more than 100 years

Image courtesy of 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Digital Collection, California Historical Society

The devastation of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake created a homeless population of around 250,000 people. Refugees set up makeshift camps all around the city. This photograph is captioned: “Dwellings of the homeless — shelter built of wreckage, near ruined City Hall, San Francisco, Cal.”

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