Search All Items

Caption: "Fort Point," c. 1910. This postcard shows a view of Fort Point, at the entrance to San Francisco Bay. The facilities at Fort Point were 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, but 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: 1910

Caption: "Giant Cactus Arizona Desert, Salome, AR. June 1, 1935," shows William McCarthy standing next to a large cactus at Salome, Arizona.

Date: 1935

Caption: "Main Engine, Crockett Sugar Refinery," c. 1906. William McCarthy (left) and unidentified man pose next to the main engine at the sugar refinery.

Date: 1906

Caption: "Baker's [sic] Beach S.F.," c. 1906. Baker Beach begins just south of Golden Gate Point and extends approximately one half-mile southward to Seacliff Peninsula.

Date: 1906

Caption: "Bijou Inn -- Lake Tahoe.," c. 1915-1920. William and Grace McCarthy standing next to automobile near Bijou Inn and store in the Lake Tahoe area.

Date: 1920

No caption, c. 1910. Image of parlor or dining room decorated for a celebration. Strings of beads or bells hang around the entry to the room.

Date: 1910

Caption: "Portola Celebration,"1909. The Portola Festival of 1909 was 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: "Picturesque Connecticut Highway. U.S. No 1. Sept. 4, 1934." William McCarthy standing next to a U.S. Route 1 sign along a tree-lined highway. U.S. Route 1 is a north-south highway connecting the eastern seaboard from Fort Kent, Maine to Key West, Florida.

Date: 9/4/1934

Caption: "Touring De Luxe. Arranging Sleeping Quarters. Oct. 10, 1934." William McCarthy is arranging pads for sleeping in the car that the couple used to travel across the U.S. The vehicle appears to be a Studebaker sedan, possibly dating from the mid-1920s.

Date: 10/10/1934

Caption: "Congressional Library Interior," c. 1925. View of part of the book stacks within the Library of Congress. The building, originally called the Library of Congress Building, opened to the public in 1897. Its name was changed in 1980 to honor Thomas Jefferson, Founding Father and third President of the U.S.

Date: 1925