Capturing Market Street, 1906

This is the first frame of the Market Street film.

This license plate provided an important clue in determining when the film was shot. To find out how, watch Morley Safer's story at 60Minutes.com.

Market Street is three miles long, 120 feet wide. It has been the beating heart of the city since the days of the gold rush.

The San Francisco earthquake struck on April 18, 1906 at 5:12 a.m.; 4.7 square miles of the city were burned and more than 3,000 people died from the quake and subsequent fires.

Take a close look: do you see the young boy peeking out the back of the wagon?

These puddles provided another clue in dating the film to a week before the earthquake. Find out how by watching Morley Safer's story at 60Minutes.com.

The Market Street film was shot on a camera mounted on the front of a cable car. The film starts on Market Street at approximately Eighth Street and ends at the Ferry Building, on San Francisco Bay.

Do you see the circular pattern in the street? It's the turntable that allowed the cable car to switch directions.

The trip down Market Street was filmed by the Miles brothers, filmmakers who offered the piece to movie houses as a travelogue. The film survived because they'd shipped it to New York by train just the night before the earthquake.

The last few blocks of Market Street today are filled with banks, brokers, Wall Street West. A century ago, it was the wholesale district, offering coffee, tea and spices.

This is the last frame of the Market Street film.