A friend emailed this video to me. He knows I walk Market street to work frequently, and asked if I recognized any of these buildings–knowing most were destroyed. This is San Francisco four days before the earthquake and fire changed the City forever.
The music fits hauntingly well with this view back on a long-lost world. Twenty-first century as it may be, the music suits the mood for our glimpsing this basically Victorian, 19th century world.
His email also had this note:
“This film, originally thought to be from 1905 until David Kiehn with the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum figured out exactly when it was shot. From New York trade papers announcing the film showing to the wet streets from recent heavy rainfall & shadows indicating time of year & actual weather and conditions on historical record, even when the cars were registered (he even knows who owned them and when the plates were issued!). It was filmed only four days before the quake and shipped by train to NY for processing.”
I find it oddly fascinating. It would be incredible enough in its own right, with the pedestrians, horseriders, horse-drawn vehicles, trolleys, and early autos (so much traffic! and so helter skelter! But they had no need for crosswalks, I suppose) plus all the gorgeous old buildings, but there is this added fascination. Like when you watch movies knowing the secret the characters don’t yet know. I watch this and think of what is in store for all of these people, and want to go back in time to meet them.
Who were they? Where were they from, and what were their lives like? Did they like their Republican president, or was he too liberal? What did they think of the rapid modernization of their world? The children would be senior citizens by the time I was their age. You watch it knowing that in four days most of what they know will be lost, which is a bit macabre, but fascinating.
Oh, besides the ferry building (the clocktower at the end of the street, toward which this trolley car is headed), the only other building I might identity is the original Palace Hotel, at right. It’s the only building that’s four or five stories tall, and a block long. Enrico Caruso was there when the earthquake struck, and he was so horrified he fled the city vowing never to return.
OmbudsBen 
This is eerie, chilling footage and the music only adds to the drama. I felt the same as you. This is such a time warp. You just want to yell, “Run the hills!”
I loved this glimpse into the past. Fascinating seeing how people, even all that time ago when trams and cars etc were still new, still did that thing of leaning towards the tram as it neared them and they readied themselves to board. And that small boys will still risk life and limb to run in front of the traffic when there’s a camera to gurn at!