A sepia-toned stereograph features two nearly identical photographs mounted side-by-side on a grey card, showing two men walking through the rubble-strewn aftermath of an urban disaster. In the foreground, the two men wear dark overcoats and hats, with the man on the right carrying a tripod and camera equipment over his shoulder. They are walking down a street filled with debris toward the skeletal, burnt-out remains of several multi-story buildings that line the background. To the right, the large, gutted shell of a prominent hotel stands with its masonry walls and window openings still visible despite significant damage. Vertical text is printed on the side margins of the card: the left margin reads "Sold only by Griffith & Griffith, Philadelphia, Chicago, London, Hamburg, Ger., St. Petersburg, Russia" and the right margin reads "Geo. W. Griffith, Publisher, Philadelphia, Pa." Small, centered text at the bottom identifies the scene as "Looking North on Mason Street, Showing Ruins of Fairmount Hotel on the Right, San Francisco," accompanied by the number 17 and a copyright date of 1906.