Thanksgiving Day Disaster

On Thanksgiving Day in 1900, this patch of the Mission District became the site of the deadliest sporting disaster in American history. Thousands of fans packed into the nearby Recreation Park to watch the annual Big Game between Cal and Stanford, but the stadium was completely overwhelmed. Seeking a free view of the field, hundreds of young men and boys climbed onto the fragile roof of the neighboring San Francisco and Pacific Glass Works. The structure was never designed to hold human weight, and twenty minutes into the game, the roof gave way.