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Night Photos Taken Before and After the Earthquake and Fire is a photograph album containing 25 nighttime photographs of buildings and streets with electrical lighting in San Francisco, California, from 1901 to 1909.

Night Photos Taken Before and After the Earthquake and Fire is a photograph album containing 25 nighttime photographs of buildings and streets with electrical lighting in San Francisco, California, from 1901 to 1909.

The album (18.5. x 14.5 cm) has black cloth covers with “Photographs” gilt-stamped on front and black paper pages. An inscription on the inside of the front cover reads “Night Photos Taken Before and After The Earthquake and Fire by Cecil C. Cline S.F.” The photographer may possibly have been Cecil Cephas Cline (1884-1949), a San Francisco-based electrician. Buildings pictured include the Ferry Building, the Old Union Trust Building, the Old City Hall, the Tivoli Opera House, and more. While most photographs are exterior views, interior shots of the Ferry Building and Tivoli Opera House are also present.

Towards the back of the album one page is captioned “After the Earthquake and Fire.” Seven photographs are present in this section of the album including several images documenting the Portola Festival held in October, 1909, which was the first city-wide public event held in San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake.

The T. E. Hecht California views photograph album contains approximately 234 copies of photographs of Californian scenery originally produced by various photographers between 1856 and 1875 that were reproduced and compiled by photographer Treu Ergeben Hecht between 1890 and 1900.

The T. E. Hecht California views photograph album contains approximately 234 copies of photographs of Californian scenery originally produced by various photographers between 1856 and 1875 that were reproduced and compiled by photographer Treu Ergeben Hecht between 1890 and 1900.

The album (32 x 20 cm) has a leather spine with "Photographs" gilt stamped on the front and marbled paper cover boards. Contents are organized into geographic sections and mainly consist of street scenes, architectural profiles, aerial views, and landscape photographs documenting aspects of several Californian cities including San Francisco, Sacramento, Stockton, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Grass Valley, Nevada City, Copperopolis, Sonora, Knight's Ferry, Lake Tahoe, Cisco, Benicia, Vallejo, and Mare Island. San Francisco-related content is the most prevalent material and includes views of the Express Building, Chinatown, Russian Hill, the Mission District, Woodward's Gardens, Portsmouth Square, Telegraph Hill, Union Square, San Francisco Bay, North Beach, Broadway Wharf, the Stock Exchange, Cliff House, Market Street Railway, the Palace Hotel, and more. This album purportedly once belonged to former mayor of San Francisco James "Sunny Jim" Rolph, Jr.

Many images include handwritten captions identifying places and buildings, and in some cases the original photographer is credited. Original negatives were mainly produced during the 1850s, 1860s, and 1870s. Photographers whose works have been reproduced include George R. Fardon, Lawrence & Houseworth (later Thomas Houseworth & Co.), Eadweard Muybridge, W. M. Stuart, and William J. Shew. Two photographic reproductions of non-photographic materials are also present including a print of San Francisco with several building vignettes as well as a document titled "Proposed Plan for Completing the County Jail." Of particular note are images of people and businesses in Chinatown, the aftermath of the 1868 Hayward earthquake, the airship Avitor Hermes, Jr. prior to takeoff during in 1869, numerous views showing businesses and storefronts (including the photography studios of Silas T. Selleck, Thomas Houseworth & Co., and W. M. Stuart), and pictures of missions across California.