Search All Items

Caption: "Chicago Fair Grounds, View of Lagoon from Sky Ride. No 1 Agricultural Building. No2 Government Building. Sept. 17, 1934." Bird's eye view of a portion of the fair grounds for Chicago's Century of Progress Exposition. Two of the fair's structures have been labeled in this photograph, including the Agriculture Building, a long low structure, and the Federal Building, featuring three towers representing the three branches of the federal government. The Exposition, a world fair attended by thirty-nine million people, celebrated Chicago's one-hundred year anniversary of incorporation. Originally planned to only run from May to November in 1933, it was such a success that its organizers decided to keep it running for a second season from May through October the following year. The central theme of the Exposition was technological innovation, with a motto of "Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Conforms." None of the buildings constructed for the fair are still extant today, having been built as temporary facilities.

Date: 9/17/1934

Caption: "Ver De Leu [sic], Santa Cruz Beach.," c. 1910. Ocean shore scene with rocks, waves, and high spray. The Vue de L'eau (View of the Water) was a station on the Santa Cruz, Garfield Park and Capitola Electric Railway electric streetcar line. The station, built in 1891, was located at the very end of the line, on a promontory overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It featured an observatory on the top story. The same company also built a casino, ballroom, and restaurant nearby. The station burned down in 1925.

Date: 1910

Caption: "Church Butte [sic], near Green River, Wyoming. Oct. 2, 1934." The Church Buttes in Wyoming consist of sandstone eroded by wind and weather into a butte approximately 1,000 feet in diameter and rising up to 100 feet above the surrounding valley floor. Located along the Overland Route used by emigrants to the West Coast, the formation gained additional notoriety for being a camp site for Brigham Young and the first Mormon party to head west, as well as a relay site for the Pony Express.

Date: 10/2/1934

Caption: "Seattle Street Scene." Street view in Seattle, with Smith Tower in background. See also 96-07-08-alb05-178.

Date: 1914

Correspondence from Mrs. Elizabeth R. Carter to Earl Warren regarding opposition to legislation that would exclude Japanese-Americans from California

Date: October 25, 1944

Caption: "Officers Quarters -- Fort Winfield Scott," c. 1912. Shows a row of multi-story homes along a landscaped street. Fort Winfield Scott was a coastal artillery post at the San Francisco Presidio. Originally named Fort Point, it 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, until 1886 when 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: 1912

Image of Census of 1852, page 5 from Placer County Schedule II Volume I.

Date: 1852

Caption: "Benicia Arsenal Gate," c. 1905, Benicia, California. 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.

Date: 1905

Caption: "Mammoth Hot Springs Resort," c. 1923. Grace McCarthy poses in front of Mammoth Hot Springs Resort. Originally called the National Hotel, the building opened for business in 1883. It underwent significant alterations and renovations between 1911 and 1913, by which time the resort was known as the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. The hotel was torn down in 1936 in favor of a more modern facility.

Date: 1923

Caption: "Benicia Arsenal Avenue," c. 1905, Benicia, California. 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.

Date: 1905