Video Shot from S.F. Streetcar 1905

"San Francisco's main thoroughfare as seen from the front window of a moving Market Street cable car, before the downtown area was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire. This unusual record has been called the first 'structural film' because it follows exactly the externally imposed structure of the car ride."

From the Internet Archive [2]

Here is a post from the SFGate blog [3] that explains some of the history of this film. The author also explains why the film must have been shot in 1906 based on the appearance of puddles in the road and some brilliant research done at the San Francisco Public Library.
View the full 13 minute video [2] (without the soundtrack) at the Internet Archive web site.
Browse the entire Prelinger Archives collection [4] which contains approximately 4,000 historically significant film titles.
View the Youtube page [5] to read some interesting comments and insight about this video.

If you could travel back to this time and place, how would you explain to these people that in 106 years, we will be able to view them at this moment, on our laptops, smartphones and tablets? While you're there, maybe you can inform them of the concept of traffic lights.