From late 1862 / early 1863 until his death in January 1880, Emperor Norton lived at the Eureka Lodgings — a kind of 19th-century SRO located at 624 Commercial Street, on the north side of Commercial between Montgomery and Kearny Streets, in San Francisco.

There is a handful of 1860s–1880s photographs, taken from across Montgomery or Kearny, that show distant views of the 600 block of Commercial Street.

What we’d never seen, though, is a photo of the 600 block of Commercial taken during the Emperor’s lifetime — taken from within the block — and showing the real, intimate flavor of the section of the street where Emperor Norton lived.

Our discovery, hidden in plain sight, is a c.1876 photograph apparently taken by Eadweard Muybridge.

A bonus: The photo appears to reveal a glimpse of the Eureka Lodgings itself.

If we’re right about this, we may have produced the first-ever visual ID of photographic evidence of the Emperor’s residence.

Kind of a big deal.