RECENT RESEARCH — A newly unearthed photograph showing the north side of the 600 block of Commercial Street, San Francisco, in the aftermath of the earthquake and fires of 1906 reveals, for the first time, visual evidence of the fate of the building that housed the Eureka Lodgings, where Emperor Norton lived from 1864–65 until his death in 1880. Our analysis of the photo sharpens the focus on the identities and locations of the buildings along this stretch — and exactly what each building suffered in 1906. Includes our highly researched new infographic that can be used as a tool for understanding the history of this location.

The Emperor Norton Trust

TO HONOR THE LIFE + ADVANCE THE LEGACY OF JOSHUA ABRAHAM NORTON

RESEARCH • EDUCATION • ADVOCACY

The Emperor's Bridge Campaign's 5th Anniversary Absinthe, Gin & Cake Party

 
Poster by Tami Twarog, at the Inaugural Tweet-Up of The Emperor’s Bridge Campaign, held at Emperor Norton’s Boozeland, San Francisco, 28 September 2013.

Poster by Tami Twarog, at the Inaugural Tweet-Up of The Emperor’s Bridge Campaign, held at Emperor Norton’s Boozeland, San Francisco, 28 September 2013.

 

Forty subjects of the Emperor Norton walked into a bar.

That was September 2013. Over the course of six weeks, John Lumea’s Change dot org petition calling on the California state legislature to name the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge after Emperor Norton — launched in early August — had sparked a Twitter-fueled mini-movement, resulting in 4,000 signatures and loads of local and state media coverage.

Alas, it wasn’t enough to get state lawmakers to do the right thing — at least, not in 2013.

And, yet: The effort had galvanized an awful lot of goodwill and good energy around the Emperor.

What next?

The fiercest tweeter of them all, Tami Twarog — aka supertam — and John got their heads together. John already, in late August, had set up a Facebook group for what he called “The Emperor’s Bridge Campaign.” Very shortly, in mid September, word went out that, on Saturday 28 September 2013, a new Tenderloin bar called Emperor Norton’s Boozeland would be the site of “The Inaugural Tweet-Up of The Emperor’s Bridge Campaign.”

Forty people showed up — and the rest, as they say, is history-in-the-making. The Campaign* became a nonprofit, with a mission to advance the legacy of Emperor Norton through research, education and advocacy. The bridge-naming project remains a “campaign within the Campaign.”

And — most important — we are still here!

Please join us, in this year of Emperor Norton’s 200th birthday, as we return to the scene of the crime — exactly five years after our first gathering — to toast the Campaign and the Emperor!

And bring all of your Emperor-saluting friends!

THE EMPEROR’S BRIDGE CAMPAIGN’S 5th ANNIVERSARY
ABSINTHE, GIN & CAKE PARTY

Friday 28 September 2018 from 7 to 9 p.m.

Emperor Norton’s Boozeland
510 Larkin Street (at Turk)
San Francisco (map)

TOAST at 7:30 p.m.

Cake (lots of cake!)

Complementary tastings of handcrafted spirits
from Treasure Island-based Raff Distillerie

  • Emperor Norton Absinthe Dieu

  • Bummer & Lazarus Dry Gin

and

One dollar off all drinks made with Raff spirits!

* In December 2019, The Emperor's Bridge Campaign adopted a new name: The Emperor Norton Trust.

© 2025 The Emperor Norton Trust  |  Site design: Alisha Lumea  |  Background: Original image courtesy of Erica Fischer