Selected Annotated Bibliography
General
- Beebe, Lucius, and Charles Clegg. San Francisco's Golden Era. Berkeley, CA: Howell-North Books, 1960.
- Excellent pictorial and graphic coverage of pre-1906 San Francisco.
- Cameron, Robert. Above San Francisco. San Francisco: Cameron and Company, 1986.
- One of a series, superb aerial coverage of San Francisco and the Bay Area, including "then and now" views.
- Dillon, Richard. San Francisco: Adventurers and Visionaries. Tulsa, OK: Continental Heritage Press, 1983.
- Contains rich pictorial coverage of San Francisco history.
- Johnson, Paul, and Richard Reinhardt. San Francisco: As It Is, As It Was. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1979.
- An excellent pictorial history of San Francisco.
- Lewis, Oscar, and Milton S Ray. San Francisco Since 1872. San Francisco: W.S. Ray and Company, 1946.
- An interesting early pictorial history of the city.
- Watkins, T.H., and R.R. Olmsted. Mirror of the Dream -- An Illustrated History of San Francisco. San Francisco: Scrimshaw Press, 1976.
- Includes a thorough pictorial history of San Francisco.
Buildings
- Corbett, Michael R. Splendid Survivors: San Francisco's Downtown Architectural Heritage. San Francisco: California Living Books, San Francisco Examiner, 1976.
- Excellent detailed coverage of the buildings of downtown San Francisco.
- McGrew, Patrick, and Marion Brenner (photographer). Landmarks of San Francisco. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1991.
- A splendid pictorial survey, in color and black & white, of San Francisco's landmark buildings.
- Olmsted, Roger, and T.H. Watkins. Here Today: San Francisco's Architectural Heritage. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1968.
- Detailed pictorial coverage of San Francisco's surviving pre-1910 buildings.
Transportation
- Smallwood, Charles S., Warren E. Miller, and Don DeNevi. The Cable Car Book. Millbrae, CA: Celestial Arts, 1980.
- Excellent pictorial survey of a century of San Francisco cable cars.
- Stindt, Fred A. San Francisco's Century of Streetcars. Kelseyville, CA: F.A. Stindt, 1990.
- Thorough pictorial coverage of San Francisco streetcars.
- Wurm, Ted, and Al Graves. The Crookedest Railroad in the World. Glendale, CA: Trans-Anglo Books, 1983.
Chinatown
- Dicker, Laverne Mau. The Chinese in San Francisco: A Pictorial History. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1984.
- Good pictorial coverage of all eras of San Francisco's Chinatown.
- Tchen, John Kuo Wei, ed. Genthe's Photographs of Old Chinatown. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1984.
- Unique photographs of Chinatown at the turn of the century.
Maritime
- Harlan, George H. San Francisco Bay Ferryboats. Berkeley, CA: Howell-North Books, 1967.
- Thorough pictorial coverage of the golden age of San Francisco Bay ferryboats.
- Kemble, John H. San Francisco Bay: A Pictorial Maritime History. New York: Bonanza Books, 1978.
- An excellent pictorial survey of the maritime history of San Francisco Bay and the Delta.
San Francisco and Environs
- Gilliam, Harold, and Michael Bry. The Natural World of San Francisco. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1967.
- Good pictorial coverage of San Francisco's natural landscape, including Lands End.
- Loomis, Patricia. Signposts II. San Jose, CA: San Jose Historical Museum Association, 1985.
- Includes pictorial coverage of San Jose and surroundings in the early years.
- Pierce, Marjorie. San Jose and Its Cathedral. San Jose, CA: Western Tananger Press,
1990.
- A history of San Jose and St. Joseph's Cathedral with good pictorial coverage of local history.
- San Francisco and California. San Francisco (?): E.P. Charleton & Company, 1909.
- Early pictorial coverage of "the most striking features of the newly made metropolis" following the earthquake and fire.
- Wurm, Theodore G., and Alvin C. Graves. The Crookedest Railroad in the World. Glendale, CA: Trans-Anglo Books, 1983.
- Includes thorough pictorial coverage of the Mount Tamalpais Railroad.
San Francisco Earthquake and Fire
- Beebe, Lucius, and Charles Clegg. San Francisco's Golden Era: A Picture History of San Francisco Before the Fire. Berkeley, CA: Howell-North, 1960.
- Bronson, William. The Earth Shook, The Sky Burned. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1959.
- Includes detailed pictorial coverage of the earthquake and fire and its aftermath in San Francisco and the Bay Area.
- Hansen, Gladys, and Emmet Condon. Denial of Disaster. San Francisco: Cameron and Company, 1989.
- Includes many rare high-quality photographs of the disaster, and several colored reproductions.
- Himmelwright, A.L.A. The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire: A Brief History of the Disaster. New York: Roebling Construction Company, 1906.
- An account of the earthquake and fire from an engineer commissioned by the Roebling Construction Company of New Jersey to report on the fire-proofing construction materials patented by Roebling that were found in the debris of San Francisco's ruins.
- Saul, Eric, and Don DeNeri. The Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire. Millbrae, CA: Celestial Arts, 1981.
- Good pictorial coverage of the disaster.
- San Francisco Before and After April 18, 1906 (2nd edition). San Francisco: L.C. Osteyee, ca. 1906.
- San Francisco and Vicinity Before and After its Destruction... Portland, ME: L.H. Nelson Company, 1906.
Panama-Pacific International Exposition
- Ewald, Donna, and Peter Clute. San Francisco Invites the World. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1991.
- Good pictorial introduction to the Fair.
- Newhall, Ruth. San Francisco's Enchanted Palace. Berkeley, CA: Howell-North Books, 1967.
- A look back at the Fair and the rebuilding of the Palace of Fine Arts in the mid-1960s, with many photographs.
- Reid, Robert A. The Blue Book: the Official Souvenir and View Book of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. San Francisco: P.P.I.E., 1915.
- The best pictorial source book on the Fair.
- Roesch, Roberta Fleming. World's Fairs: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. New York: John Day Company, 1962.
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