Search William M. McCarthy Photograph Collection

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: "Street Scene, Los Angeles," c. 1908. A view of an early twentieth street scene in Los Angeles, with horse-drawn vehicles, trolley cars, and numerous buildings.

Date: 1908

Caption: "U.S. Capitol Building in the distance. View Taken from the Washington Monument. Washington, D.C. July 27, 1934." Bird's eye view of a portion of the National Mall, between the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol Building.

Date: 7/27/1934

Caption: "Street Scene-Los Angeles," c. 1915. Shows an unidentified busy street scene in Los Angeles.

Date: 1915

Caption: "6" Disappearing Gun," c. 1915. Side view of a 6" disappearing gun in a barbette (gun emplacement). Retracting or disappearing guns were a form of artillery developed in the nineteenth century in which heavy artillery guns were placed on rotating carriages that allowed retraction of the weapon after firing, to enable reloading while under enemy fire.

Date: 1915

Caption: "Santa Rosa Court House.," c. 1914. Built in 1910, this building replaced the original Sonoma County courthouse that was destroyed by the great earthquake and fire that ravaged the San Francisco Bay Area in 1906. This second courthouse served the county for more than fifty years before being declared seismically unsafe in the 1960s. It was subsequently torn down, but the area still retains the name "Old Courthouse Square."

Date: 1914

Unidentified African-American woman, several children, and a dog posing on and around the porch of a wood-plank home. *Please Note:* Original caption removed due to sensitive content. To view the original photograph with caption, please contact the California State Archives Reference Desk.

Date: 6/17/1934

No Caption: Grace McCarthy feeding a deer at Yosemite National Park, c. 1935.

Date: 1935

Caption: "Glenbrook." Main building of Glenbrook Inn, built in 1907 on the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe, in Nevada.

Date: 1927

Caption: "Lake Tahoe - Calif.," c. 1935.

Date: 1935