The rent was $2 a month, gave quake refugees a roof

The Chronicle today has an article about a new centennial earthquake display on Market Street, featuring a restored Earthquake Shack...

The newest building on Market Street may also be the most humble.

Its walls are 1-inch-thick redwood boards. Those walls enclose 140 square feet of space -- less than one-third the size of a premier room at the sleek Four Seasons Hotel next door. The steeply pitched shingle roof is held aloft by a thin skeleton of rafters.

The shack arrived Sunday after a journey that began in 1906, when it was among the 5,610 constructed for earthquake refugees. Now, tucked inside a big white tent, the small shack has hit the big time -- but only for a month.

The tiny green structure will be open to the public during April as part of a larger earthquake display organized by the city's Department of Building Inspection. It sits on Yerba Buena Lane between two infinitely larger structures, the Four Seasons and Marriott hotels, having arrived at dawn Sunday on a flatbed truck after spending the last year behind the San Francisco Zoo's African Savannah.

The charge was $2 per month per shack; for $12 to $25 the shack could be moved to private property as families resettled their land. By the summer of 1908, the refugee camps were history and shacks were scattered across the landscape.

Shack facts

The 5,610 shacks built in San Francisco the year after the 1906 earthquake came in four models ranging from 140 square feet to 375 square feet.

The average construction cost was $135 - that's $2,770.68 in 2006 dollars.

They had no toilets, kitchens or insulation, although stoves could be installed at the refugee camp.

After the city closed refugee camps late in 1907, most shacks began a second life as starter homes or building blocks. For instance, three shacks were combined at 1227 24th Ave. in the Sunset District to form a small home that is now a city landmark. An additional shack sits at the rear of the lot.

One newly restored shack can be visited by the public between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. from Monday to April 29 at Yerba Buena Lane, on the 700 block of Market Street. It is the centerpiece of an exhibit on earthquake-savvy construction methods organized by the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection.

San Francisco Rising: 1906 Earthquake and Fire Commemoration [SFGov]