At the dawn of the twentieth century, San Francisco was a city of staggering contrasts. Immense wealth stood beside grinding poverty. Political corruption clashed with reform. A booming metropolis fueled by railroads, shipping, banking, and speculation was built on unstable ground, both geologically and morally.

Real political scandals involving Mayor Eugene Schmitz and political boss Abraham Ruef, along with battles over the city's water supply, public infrastructure, and transit systems, left San Francisco dangerously vulnerable to unstable ground. Failures in water access and political inaction helped fuel the firestorm that consumed much of the city.

The film draws from the lives of real historical figures, including Fire Chief Dennis Sullivan and reformers Rudolph Spreckels and James D. Phelan. Their world collides with immigrants, laborers, firefighters, and women fighting for a place in a society defined by rigid class lines.

1906 is not only about an earthquake. It is about a society already trembling before the fault line shifted and the people who would be forever changed in its aftermath.