You may have seen Carl Nolte's piece in the Chronicle on Monday about the Smithsonian Institution's discovery of six color photographs of San Francisco after the 1906 quake. The photos were taken by pioneering photographer Frederick Ives. Here are four of those photos, posted online today by the Chron:

• Earthquake-scarred Flood Building
• Rooftop view along Van Ness
• City Hall area at street level
• View from Ives' Hotel Majestic room

Here's a blown-up version of the third photo above, from a post about Ives' early experiments in color photography on the Smithsonian National Museum of American History blog.

Also, this is a fine opportunity to browse the Smithsonian's collection of black and white photos from the Great Quake. And while you're at it, check out the amazing collection on the Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco site, and this one from the USGS of the Great Fire.