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

Filtering by Tag: Home of Peace

Emperor Norton's Friend the Butcher

June 20, 2022  /  John Lumea

There are many contemporaneous references to Emperor Norton’s associations with various people and places.

But, the Emperor was a public character. And, the accounts of his engagements with particular people mostly are accounts of conversations and sightings in public places: libraries, lecture halls, churches, saloons, parks, resorts, trains, ferries, streets.

Much rarer are eyewitness reports of Emperor Norton in more intimate settings, such as someone’s home.

Herein, a trace memoir of the Jewish friend who had the Emperor home for dinner on more than one occasion — and documentation of who the friend was.

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categories / Research, Places, Original sources
tags / Abraham Yehl, Josephine Yehl Groeschel, Josephine Groeschel, dinner, butcher, San Francisco directory, U.S. census, business card, Gradwohl & Cohen, Congregation Emanu-El, Temple Emanu-El, Home of Peace, Fanny Yehl, San Francisco Chronicle, 1854, 1858, 1862, 1868, 1915, 1953

An Empire of the Heart

September 18, 2015  /  John Lumea

A portion of remarks offered by Emperor's Bridge Campaign founder and president John Lumea at the Campaign's inaugural celebration of Empire Day in San Francisco's Redwood Park on 17 September 2015. The event was held to mark the 156th anniversary of Joshua Norton's declaration of himself as "Emperor of these United States" on 17 September 1859 and to welcome the 157th year of the Nortonian realm and reign.

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categories / Events, Tributes, Places, Commentary
tags / Empire Day, Redwood Park, E Clampus Vitus, Discordianism, Cacophony Society, Emperor Norton's Hunch, Chuck Prophet, Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band, Palace Hotel, Tommy's Joynt, Comstock Saloon, San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, Congregation Emanu-El, Home of Peace, Heirs of Norton, Anthony Guzzardo, Richard Clopton

A Plaque for the Emperor (With His Birth Date in Bronze)

May 04, 2015  /  John Lumea

On a beautiful if blustery afternoon yesterday in Colma, about 40 friends of Emperor Norton gathered for the laying of a special historical plaque for the Emperor at Home of Peace — the cemetery of Congregation Emanu-El, where the Emperor attended synagogue every Saturday.

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categories / Events, Tributes, News
tags / Congregation Emanu-El, Home of Peace, Colma, Jewish, Judi Leff, Beth Singer, John Lumea, Joseph Amster, Rick Saber, E Clampus Vitus, Joe Kaline, Sons of Emperor Norton, Peter Moylan, John Rothmann, Court of Historical Review, Emperor Norton's birth date

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