Portals of the Past

The six marble columns standing before you once served as the grand entrance to the Nob Hill mansion of railroad executive Alban Towne. When the 1906 earthquake and the fires that followed leveled most of the city, this entrance was the only part of the lavish estate left standing. In the chaos of the aftermath, a photographer named Arnold Genthe captured a haunting image of the smoldering city ruins through the frame of these columns. This photograph became an iconic symbol of the disaster, showing the sheer scale of the destruction while framing the city's future through the skeletal remains of its past.