The Christian Brothers, Saint Mary's, and the 1906 Earthquake and Fire

On this 105th anniversary of the April 18, 1906 earthquake and fire in San Francisco*, here are a few history tidbits, some related to Saint Mary's High and the Christian Brothers who have conducted schools in the Bay Area since 1868. 

Courtesy Christian Brothers San Francisco Province Archives, Napa, CA:

"In the great earthquake of 1906, which shook the whole Bay Area, Saint Mary's College [and its High School department, then in Oakland] and many of the Brothers' grammar schools were spared, but Sacred Heart College in San Francisco was devastated by the fire that swept through the city. A contemporary account of the disaster reported that "Flames drew perilously near Sacred Heart College, but were successfully repelled. Next day, Thursday, the flames . . . crept slowly up Eddy Street and toward evening reached Larkin. The prominent College was the last of that awful day's tribute to the flames." The only things salvaged by the Brothers from the rubble were photograph albums and a ledger of tuition accounts. The school continued in temporary buildings until 1914 when a new structure was completed at Ellis and Franklin Streets.  Today, the school is known as Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory High School, having merged with Cathedral High School for girls in 1987.

Saint Peter's Parish School in San Francisco, also conducted by the Brothers, survived the quake and fire, and served for a time as a relief station for the injured and homeless. 

Accounts from "Called to the Pacific - A History of the Christian Brothers of the San Francisco Distrcit" by Ronald Isetti (1979):

"Across the Bay, Saint Mary's College and its High School department [then located at 30th and Broadway in Oakland] suffered some damage, and at the Brothers' novitiate in Martinez, a few chimneys were toppled.  Saint Joseph's Academy grammar school for boys at Peralta Park in Berkeley (pictured) did not suffer any damage at all from the temblor."

Still another local 1906 account notes:

"In the northern end of Berkeley, word spread that the town's most magnificent and elegant edifice -- St. Joseph's Academy, a private boys' school [built in 1888 as the Peralta Park Hotel, pictured] at the end of Albina Avenue off Hopkins Street - was "badly twisted."  Some people reported being grazed by falling bricks."

Excerpts from various '06 quake histories:

Berkeley welcomed an estimated 20,000 quake refugees in 1906.  At that time, Berkeley's population was about 26,000.  Within the year after the quake, the town grew to 38,000.  Berkeley schools, except Berkeley High, were relatively undamaged by the 1906 quake and reopened following April spring vacation.  School communities were active in helping those who came to Berkeley after losing their homes and businesses in San Francisco.

*and my grandmother's 105 birthday, born in Iowa that fateful day but a Berkeley/El Cerrito resident from 1936 until her death in 1987.