Municipal Reports
THE SAN FRANCISCO
EARTHQUAKE
AND FIRE OF APRIL 1906
Three of six pages
Report on the Condition of the City Hall
by Newton J. Tharp, City Architect
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Structural Damage
The whole of the City Hall avenue front above the granite base and between the
Larkin street wing and the rotunda walls is in a state of complete ruin. The
same can be said of those portions of the building adjacent to the rotunda walls
on the north and east. The whole of the east wing is in a very bad and dangerous
state of ruin.
Present
Condition of the Rotunda and Dome
All of the materials and work within the dome proper above the
level of the terra cotta floor are in good condition and apparently uninjured.
This includes the roof, lantern, and surmounting statue. From the level of the of this terra cotta floor down to the level
of the four great girders the greatest destruction has occurred. In fact,
practically all of the surrounding masonry walls within this height were thrown
down completely, and the few still standing are so shattered as to be in an
absolutely useless and dangerous condition.
Fire Damage
Very little damage was done by the fire in the basement and none throughout
the sub-basement. On the three upper floors the fire damage is practically
complete. All of the woodwork of every description, including floors and furring
of all kinds, has been entirely destroyed, with every few exceptions.
The heat engendered by the burning of this material and the
furniture ruined the plastering on the walls and ceilings and calcined all of
the marble floors in the corridors. The intense heat was also responsible for the softening of
the iron beams and girders in may of the floors, with their consequent sinking
or complete collapse.