Search All Items

Caption: "El Portal," c. 1917. Grace McCarthy poses with two unidentified people in front of the Hotel del Portal (or Del Portal Hotel) in El Portal, California. The resort hotel was constructed in 1908 by the Yosemite Terminal Company, a subsidiary of the Yosemite Valley Railroad Company, to provide accommodations for visitors to the park who arrived by train. The hotel burned to the ground in late October of 1917.

Date: 1917

No Caption: View of the Government Building, neighboring buildings, and Geyser Basin at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. Held in Seattle to celebrate the development of the Pacific Northwest, the fair attracted 3.7 million visitors over the course of its run from June to October 1909. Although most of the fair's buildings have since been destroyed, several of them now serve as part of the University of Washington campus. For instance, Geyser Basin became Drumheller Fountain, now at a slightly different location.

Date: 1909

Caption: "Saltair. Salt Lake." View of the first Saltair resort pavilion, constructed in 1893. Designed by Richard K.A. Kletting, the pavilion hovered above the Great Salt Lake on more than 2,000 posts and pilings. 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 pavilion in 1906. It was later destroyed by fire in 1925.

Date: 1916

Caption: "High School -- San Diego," c. 1910. By 1902 San Diego's schools had become overcrowded enough to warrant the construction of a new high school building. Completed in 1907 and designed by F.S. Allen, the new building was quickly nicknamed the "Grey Castle on the Hill" in reference to its castle-like parapets and towers. The Grey Castle was torn down in 1975 to make way for a facility in compliance with new earthquake safety laws.

Date: 1910

Image withheld due to copyright considerations. For more information, please contact the California State Archives Reference Desk at ArchivesWeb@sos.ca.gov or (916) 653-2246. Double-sized panoramic postcard entitled "San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate International Exposition," c. 1938. Artist's rendering of San Francisco Bay, featuring the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and the Golden Gate International Exposition.

Date: 1938

This item has no description.

Date: 1957

No Caption. A view of the Benicia Arsenal, with the store house in the distance. William McCarthy began his career as an inspector of armaments for the U.S. War Department at the Benicia Arsenal in 1903. The arsenal was established in 1851 as the first Ordnance Supply Depot in the West, from which it supplied and supported U.S. troops, from the Civil War through WWII and the Korean War. It was deactivated in 1963. Benicia Arsenal store house in the distance, c. 1905.

Date: 1905

No Caption: Shows a group of adult African lions in a enclosed area of Gay's Lion Farm in El Monte, Los Angeles. Charles and Muriel Gay opened the farm in 1925 and operated it until 1942 as a popular tourist attraction where lions were selectively bred and trained for the Hollywood film industry. It was closed during WWII due to wartime meat shortages, and the lions were loaned to zoos around the country, c. 1935.

Date: 1935

Caption: "Totem Pole -- Seattle, Wash.," c. 1915. View of the Tlingit totem pole in Seattle's Pioneer Square. The totem pole was stolen in 1899 by a group of businessmen, and erected in the square, then known as Pioneer Place. An arson destroyed this pole in 1938, but it was later replaced by another carved by the Tlingit tribe (who were also finally paid for the original pole).

Date: 1915

Caption: "Seattle totem pole.," c. 1905. View of the Tlingit totem pole in Seattle's Pioneer Square. The totem pole was stolen in 1899 by a group of businessmen, and erected in the square, then known as Pioneer Place. An arson destroyed this pole in 1938, but it was later replaced by another carved by the Tlingit tribe (who were also finally paid for the original pole).

Date: 1905