This then-and-now photo looks across the intersection of Post and Grant at the Shreve Building, where Shreve & Co. anchors the corner. The historic black-and-white scene shows employees and onlookers gathered at street level amid scattered debris, framed by the building’s large display windows and canopy. Blended with the modern streetscape, the image highlights how the storefront and corner architecture continue to define this well-known downtown San Francisco intersection.
The title points to a grim moment in the aftermath, as employees returned to pick up the pieces while photographer Richard Wigham documented the scene, including the charred remains of a human corpse in the roadway. The crowd’s posture and the rubble at their feet convey urgency and shock, capturing the raw, immediate reality of disaster recovery in a commercial district. It’s a stark reminder that behind every historic facade are personal stories of loss and survival.
Today, traffic lights, crosswalks, and busy retail signage surround the same corner, emphasizing continuity and change in the city’s urban fabric. This photo comparison invites readers to study the details—street corners, storefront edges, and building lines—to see what endured and what transformed. As a historical San Francisco photograph, it offers a powerful glimpse into downtown resilience at Post and Grant and the lasting presence of the Shreve Building.