Search All Items

Caption: "U.S. Mint unhurt," c. 1906. Pictured is the U.S. Mint building in San Francisco, which opened in 1874, after the original 1854 building was outgrown, which had been established to serve the gold mines during the California Gold Rush. The building suffered little damage after the 1906 earthquake. The facility served as the San Francisco U.S. Mint until 1937, when workers moved to a larger and more modern building. In 1961, the old U.S. Mint, known as the "Granite Lady," was designated a National Historic Landmark.

Date: 1906

No Caption: The photograph has a hand-written inscription stating: "Portola Electric Bell Copyright 1909 Pillsbury Picture Co. No. 800." Installed on the intersection of Third and Market Streets in San Francisco, the Portola Electric Bell contained two thousand bulbs and rose 125 feet above the street. It was part of the Portola Festival of 1909, a grand celebration devised to commemorate the discovery of San Francisco Bay by Gaspar De Portola, and for the public to celebrate the future of the rebuilt city after the 1906 earthquake and fires.

Date: 1909

Caption: "Machine Shop -- Fort Winfield Scott," c. 1913. Low brick building with tile roof, with William McCarthy (far left) and two unidentified men standing in front. Fort Winfield Scott, formerly Fort Point, was part of an effort by the U.S. government to protect the Golden Gate, entrance to the San Francisco Bay. Built between 1853-1861, the fort included emplacements for 141 guns but never fired a weapon in defense of the Bay. Its name was officially changed in 1882 to Fort Winfield Scott. This only lasted four years, however, for in 1886 the fort was officially downgraded to a sub-post of the San Francisco Presidio and the name discontinued. It was resurrected in 1912, with the establishment of a coastal artillery fortification at the Presidio, called, once again, Fort Winfield Scott.

Date: 1913

Caption: "Santa Clara Mission," c. 1910. Founded in 1777, Mission Santa Clara featured several different churches over the years. This photograph shows the mission church as it appeared from roughly 1861 to 1926. In the 1860s, Santa Clara College President Burchard Villager decided to rebuild many of the buildings on the campus. In the process, the mission church was renovated in the Italianate style, with a second bell tower. This Italianate-style church burned in 1926. The church was then rebuilt as a modern reconstruction of the fifth church on the site, the original of which was destroyed by fire in 1825.

Date: 1910

Caption: "Havana Cemetery, Second Oldest in the World. July 4, 34." Several memorials in Colon Cemetery can be seen in this photograph. Founded in 1876, Colon Cemetery replaced Havana's first cemetery, Espada Cemetery, after a cholera epidemic in 1868 revealed the need for a new, larger facility. Today, the Colon Cemetery holds more than 800,000 graves. It is not known where William McCarthy found reference to this being the "second oldest" cemetery in the world, as California State Archives staff could not verify that statistic.

Date: 7/4/1934

Caption: "Saint Louis Cathedral, New Orleans, Louisiana. June 16, 1934." St. Louis Cathedral anchors one end of Jackson Square in New Orleans' French Quarter. The structure of the cathedral largely dates to the 1850 restoration and expansion of an older cathedral built on the site in 1793. Very little of the older church survived, although the central bell tower (added on to the older church in 1819) was reused in the new structure and is still extant today. A statue of Andrew Jackson mounted on a rearing horse (Clark Mills, sculptor) stands in the square in front of the cathedral. The sculpture was erected in 1856. See also 96-07-08-alb09-231.

Date: 6/15/1934

Caption: "Salt Air - Great Salt Lake," c.1923. Grace McCarthy poses in front of the Saltair resort complex on Utah's Great Salt Lake. Constructed in 1893 and designed by Richard K.A. Kletting, the Saltair set out to be the Western counterpart of Coney Island. The resort was a popular spot for Mormon families, only fifteen miles from Salt Lake City and overseen by Church leaders. The Church sold the building in 1906. It was later destroyed by fire in 1925, but a second pavilion was quickly built.

Date: 1923

Caption: "R U N N I N G J U M P.," c. 1917. Image of an early high jumper in mid-leap, with men clad in military uniforms watching, as well as civilian men and women. In the high jump, athletes attempt to leap over a horizontal bar without the benefit of a pole (as in pole vaulting). The technique shown here is an early one with the jumper upright rather than in the "Fosbury Flop" position, developed later in the century. The uniforms and surrounding vegetation in the photograph suggest that that event may have taken place at Camp Lewis, Washington.

Date: 1917

Caption: "Ocean Beach, San Francisco," c. 1925. Panorama of Ocean Beach, showing crowds not only at the beach but also at San Francisco's Playland, a series of seaside attractions and rides including a carousel, Fun House, and the Big Dipper rollercoaster. Entrepreneurs began erecting concessions and "thrill" rides at the location in the late nineteenth century. By 1913 the area was known as Chutes at the Beach. In 1923, brothers George and Leo Whitney began to purchase the attractions, eventually coming to own the entirety of what became known as Playland. The amusement park was torn down in 1972.

Date: 1925

Caption: "Conservatory, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, May 14, 1934." View of one wing of the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. A planting bed in front of the wing has been planted with flowers in such a way as to portray the California flag and the letters "California Diamond Jubilee, 1850-1925." The date on this photograph may not be accurate, given the dates included in the flower bed. The Conservatory of Flowers is the oldest building in Golden Gate Park, dating to 1879. The Victorian-style building has housed rare and exotic plants since its completion.

Date: 5/14/1934