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The Flower of California

Date: 1896

Star of the Kitchen

Date: 1884

Caption: "S.S. Santa Rosa." Wreck of the S.S. Santa Rosa off Point Arguello in Santa Barbara County. The steamship ran aground on July 6, 1911. Unable to break free, the turbulent waters eventually cracked the ship in half. All two hundred passengers got to shore alive, the only fatalities coming when four sailors were accidentally thrown out of a lifeboat by rough seas while attempting to establish a land line to stabilize the wreck.

Date: 1911

Caption: "Fort Stevens, Or.," c. 1910. View of buildings at Fort Stevens, part of the Three Fort Harbor Defense System protecting the mouth of the Columbia River from enemy incursion or attack (the other forts being Fort Columbia and Fort Canby, both in Washington). Built during the Civil War, the fort remained active until after World War II. In June 1942, Fort Stevens gained the dubious distinction of being the only military installation in the continental United States to come under enemy fire when a Japanese submarine surfaced off the coast and fired seventeen missiles at the fort. The missiles destroyed the backstop to the fort's baseball field, but otherwise did little harm. Fort Stevens was decommissioned in 1947. It was later turned over to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, and currently is the site of an Oregon State Park.

Date: 1910

Peerless

Date: 1895

Caption: "Potato Race," c. 1917. Several horseback riders holding long poles skirmish around a bucket in what appears to be a game similar to polo, played with a potato. A crowd has gathered to watch the game, while the rock cliff walls of Yosemite Valley tower in the background. Given the date, this was likely part of Independence Day festivities in the Yosemite Valley.

Date: 7/4/1917

Caption: "Woodchuck gets a treat. Yellowstone National Park," c. 1935, shows William McCarthy feeding a woodchuck.

Date: 1935

Caption: "Independence Hall -- Phila. July 31, 1934." A view of the steeple and bell tower of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, site of the debate over and signing of both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Completed in 1753 for the use of the Pennsylvania Province's colonial legislature, it was also the site of a 1915 convention marking the formation of the League to Enforce Peace, predecessor entity to the United Nations. The Georgian-style building, designed by Edmund Woolley and Andrew Hamilton, has undergone several renovations. Only the central portion of the building is original -- all other portions of the building have been rebuilt at some point in its past. This building also housed the Liberty Bell until 1976, when the bell was moved to the Liberty Bell Center across the street.

Date: 7/31/1934

Caption: "Fort Worden Beach.," c. 1908-1912. Ocean shore scene at Fort Worden, near Port Townsend. Construction began on the fort in 1898, and by 1902 it was serving as an active U.S. Army base. Fort Worden was part of the "triangle of fire," three coastal defense fortifications (Fort Casey, Fort Worden, and Fort Flagler) guarding the entrance to Puget Sound. The U.S. sold the property to the state of Washington in 1957. In 1973, the fort and surrounding area opened as Fort Worden State Park.

Date: 1908

Liberty, Tenderloin, The Kicker, Kosher

Date: 1884