1906 earthquake
From Palo Alto Wiki
The 1906 Earthquake shook up Peninsula cities, with most of the damage in and around San Francisco. However, Palo Alto had not been hard hit, and though in most Peninsula cities the earthquake was not something to brag about, it was in Palo Alto.
[edit] Why Not Live in Palo Alto?
To the boosters of most Peninsula cities, the 1906 earthquake was not something to brag about. But it was in Palo Alto.
Excited by the prospect of attracting skittish San Franciscans to new homes south of the shaky city, Palo Alto's board of trustees printed 200 posters bearing the legend "Why not live in Palo Alto?" These they posted on the crumbling walls of San Francisco's ravaged buildings. Then they sat back and waited for the new citizens to arrive.
Why not live in Palo Alto? After all, the town of 4,500 had been little damaged by the earthquake, compared with San Francisco. No lives were lost. Chimneys fell, a few shop windows broke and a couple of buildings did collapse, but the damage was not extensive, and what had been damaged was repaired quickly.
That is, except for one collapsed building, which had been completed so shortly before the earthquake that there was some question as to whose loss it was, the owner or the contractor. While litigation dragged on, the building remained collapsed. Unfortunately, it remained collapsed in full view of passengers on the trains that ran from San Jose to San Francisco, convincing many of them that Palo Alto was indeed hard hit by the earthquake and would be again should another quake strike.
The city fathers despaired. They began plans to erect a high billboard--inscribed, of course, with "Why not live in Palo Alto?"--that would hide the wreck from the train passengers. But the building was cleared away before the billboard could be set up.
Eventually, it became clear that San Franciscans could think of good answers to the question "Why not live in Palo Alto?" Crowds of new citizens did not arrive. Neither did they show up in Menlo Park or Atherton. In fact, life in the towns continued at the same pace as before the earthquake until the arrival of another earth-shaking event, the First World War.
