User:Joe raym/sandbox

1906 Earthquake Relief
After the earthquake the shook San Francisco in 1906, Golden Gate Park became a site of refuge for many who found themselves without shelter. The undeveloped Outside Lands became a prime location to house these masses of people, and “earthquake shacks” popped up all throughout the area. Of the 26 official homeless encampments in the Golden Gate Park region, 21 were under the control of the United States Army.

The United States Army was able to house 20,000 people in military style encampments, and 16,000 of the 20,000 refugees were living at the Presidio. Within the Presidio were four major encampments including a camp exclusively for Chinese immigrants. Despite being simple lodgings the army organized 3,000 tents into a geometric grid complete with streets and addresses. "The Army constructed a virtual town with large residential barracks [with temporary] tented housing, latrines and bathhouses, laundries, and other services."

Not only was the standard of military organization high, but the social organization was also up to an acceptable standard despite the aftermath of the earthquake and fires. Reports indicate that small communities formed within the tent neighborhoods. The children of the refugees established play areas, and the adults congregated in the mess halls to socialize.

Finally, in June of 1906, the Presidio tent camps were shut down. To replace these tents the city of San Francisco built more permanent living quarters. As mentioned earlier these earthquake shacks were built to house those still homeless after the earthquake and subsequent fires. Army Union carpenters built these shacks, and residents paid off the cost of construction at a rate of two dollars a month for twenty-five months.

The camps mostly catered to persons who were unable to find any other accommodations away from the city or were “not capable of self support or who had no relatives to take care of them”. The refugee camps at Golden Gate Park were primarily used as an interim location while the Ingleside horse stables were renovated to house human tenants. The relief camps in the park were eventually phased out as the city recovered, but select buildings remain today.