San Francisco’s Homeless History

Portsmouth Square in the 1850s.

Those of you who follow me may know about my historical fiction novel based on the events in San Francisco History. I’ve published the first book, which covers from November of 1849 until 1859. I’m in the middle of writing the second book. The Emperor Norton is a central character in these novels, and well he should be — he was here for everything in San Francisco up until 1880. The character of the Emperor and the character of San…