1906 Film of San Francisco Upgraded to 4K is Absolutely Stunning
It was on April 14, 1906 when Harry Miles, a motion-picture pioneer in California, took to a cable car and filmed the streets of San Francisco. The video has lasted the test of time, accurately portraying life in the early 20th century on the back end of the Gold Rush.
Now, the video (above) has been upscaled by Denis Shiryaev to 4K to essentially put you right in the middle of the streets of San Francisco just weeks before the historic 1906 earthquake.
The original film was actually staged by Miles’ production company using a total of thirty cable cars, four horsecars, and four streetcars. You can see the transportation of the day, including some of the original automobiles in America. The film is a piece of history, considering San Francisco would never look the same.
Just four days after this video was filmed, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit the city, killing 3,000 people and destroying 80 percent of the buildings in the city. Here is what the video looked like afterwards: