”
The 1906 Earthquake
”
is usually synonymous with San Francisco, and most California
natives are familiar with the images of destruction wrought upon
one of the nation’s greatest cities.
“The 1906 Earthquake” is usually synonymous with San Francisco, and most California natives are familiar with the images of destruction wrought upon one of the nation’s greatest cities.
And while few if any remain who actually experienced the quake, many local residents know all too well that Hollister endured its share of Mother Nature’s fury, the dramatic aftermath of which was matched only by the county’s indomitable spirit in rebuilding.
“Badly Disfigured But Still in the Ring,” reads the headline of the April 20 issue of the San Benito Advance and “Earthquake!” in the Hollister Free Lance, both printed just two days after the temblor rocked the state at 5:15am on April 18, 1906. The quake caused approximately $250,000 in damage which, adjusted for inflation, would be equivalent to $5.15 million.
Only one person was killed in the quake itself, Mrs. Agnes Griffith, who was 25 years old and had married her husband only the day before, according to the Advance article.
“In the upper floor Mr. and Mrs. Griffith had been asleep and were hastily making their way to the street,” reads the Advance. “Just as they reached the sidewalk the Doctor a little ahead of his wife the building came down upon their heads. A heavy iron girder fell across the neck of Mrs. Griffith, killing her instantly. The same girder that killed his wife, saved the life of the doctor, for it prevented a heavy pile of bricks from crushing him.”
The next week’s issue of the Advance reports that two others died the following weekend of internal injuries, Ignacio Peroni, 24, and Annie Berg, 19.
The county sanitarium was packed with residents injured in the quake, including Jim Greene, who was leaving Lynn’s saloon when he was hit by a falling brick and “rendered delirious and was found wandering in a remote part of town,” according to the Advance.
Many of the community’s beloved establishments were destroyed in the quake, including the county firehouse, the Convent and Orphanage of the Sacred Heart and the office of the Free Lance was damaged so badly that the staff relocated to Hollingberry’s Bowling Alley while repairs commenced. And though the interior of the local Catholic Church was all but destroyed, the building’s stained glass windows were unharmed.
Despite their troubles, “Hollisterites,” as the Advance frequently referred to local residents, soldiered on almost immediately. One week later, it printed a list of nearly 100 local residents and businesses who donated money to assist with relief efforts totaling nearly $1,400, and numerous donations of food and blankets.
“The one feature of the whole calamity that stands out pre-eminent is the wonderful good nature and cheerfulness of the people,” wrote the Advance on the 27th. “Needed assistance was rendered spontaneously without asking and without price. Individual losses were forgotten in the desire to assist others. The great Californian spirit imbued Hollister from start to finish. The yellow streak that comes to the surface in time of adversity was the exception, the courage of splendid manhood and womanhood was the rule.”
Local businesses soon ran advertisements such as “It Takes More than an Earthquake to Stop Hiram Pond From Selling Drugs and All Kinds of Patent Medicines… Your Credit is Just as Good as it was Two Weeks Ago.”
San Benito County residents hosted more than 150 refugees from San Francisco, where the damage was far worse. So disastrous was the quake in San Francisco that Hollister residents reported being able to make out a faint red haze on the northern horizon as fires overtook the city, said Peter Sonne, Board Chairman of the San Benito County Historical Society.
“Whether or not Hollister was prepared for an earthquake of this magnitude, they certainly had enough water and resources available to control the damage,” said Sonne. “That simply wasn’t the case in San Francisco.”
Many of the buildings erected to replace structures lost in the quake became some of Hollister’s most recognizable landmarks, such as the Masonic Lodge and New Life Fellowship buildings at the corner of 4th and San Benito Street. The county’s recovery was so rapid that by the year’s end in December, the Advance did not print a word about the quake or its aftermath.
“The result of the earth’s show of power was marred with fatality, yet in its sadness, the community has cause for rejoicing,” reads an editorial entitled “Brace Up Everybody,” printed immediately after the quake. “No cloud is so dark, that it fails to conceal a silver lining, and the silver to this dark cloud lies in the fact that it was not attendant with greater loss of life. Hollister will recover from the shock. Its fallen building will be rebuilt, its energetic people will put their shoulders to the wheel and push harder in the face of adversity. Let every man with a spark of patriotism and live blood in his veins be over generous to his distressed neighbor. Let us pull together in the future as well as we have in the past and a year hence the calamity of 1906 will be a forgotten incident.”
