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Photographic Views of Kern County, California
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Photographic Views of Kern County, California
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An album of 39 mammoth plate photographs by Carleton E. Watkins (1829-1916) illustrating the agricultural industry of Kern County, California. The photographs were made by Watkins on multiple trips to the area between 1881 and 1889. The album itself is not dated, but based on the dates of the photographs, it was most likely assembled in the early 1890s. Views include landscapes of agricultural crops, details of irrigation dams built on a river, livestock, farm workers in the field, farming company ranch houses, and farm owners. Some views depict everyday farm work, such as men harvesting wheat and alfalfa with the aid of horses, tools, and large machinery. Other photographs of note are a detail view of peaches in a crate, and men posed with a steam locomotive built at the Southern Pacific Railroad Shops in Kern County. The first two photographs in the album are interior views of promotional displays of Kern County produce and grains, exhibited in San Francisco in 1889.
RB 137500
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Carleton E. Watkins Mammoth Plate Photograph Albums
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This collection contains four albums of mammoth plate photographs made approximately 1876-1889 by photographer Carleton E. Watkins (1829-1916). Prints are mounted on boards and are accompanied by labels with titles, descriptions, and Watkins' imprint. The albums are described briefly here, with expanded descriptions and photograph titles in the contents list: Photographic Views of Kern County, California (39 prints), approximately 1881-1889, focuses on agricultural production in California's Central Valley. Views include crops, details of irrigation dams built on a river, livestock, farm workers in the field, farming company ranch houses, and farm owners. Some views depict everyday farm work, such as men harvesting wheat and alfalfa with the aid of horses, tools, and large machinery. The Central Pacific Railroad and Views Adjacent (48 prints), approximately 1876-1880s, contains photographs of trains, lodging and scenery along the California-Nevada route of the Central Pacific Railroad, from ports in the San Francisco Bay Area to the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Summits of the Sierra (41 prints), 1879, contains photographs of the vistas, mountain peaks, lakes, and topography of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Watkins took the photographs in the summer of 1879 while accompanying a government survey team. Arizona and Views Adjacent to the Southern Pacific Railroad (46 prints), 1880, includes views of mining camps, railroad depots, towns, desert landscapes, cactus, and the Spanish colonial mission San Xavier del Bac. There are several views of mines near Tombstone, Arizona, and the railroad bridge spanning the Colorado River at Fort Yuma. Native Americans and others are seen posed with a large steam locomotive in the desert, and there are several views of the ancient stone ruins at Casa Grande.
137500; 137501; 137502; 137503
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Central Pacific Railroad and Views Adjacent
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This album contains photographs made along the California-Nevada route of the Central Pacific Railroad, from ports in the San Francisco Bay Area to the Sierra Nevada mountain passes. The majority of views were made in 1876, with a few made later, approximately 1879-1880s. The album begins with a photograph of a locomotive that has just traveled across the continent and has arrived at the Oakland Long Wharf, followed by scenes of a train and its passengers being transported on a railroad ferry. Other Central Pacific Railroad views depict a massive wooden bridge being built over the American River, with one view prominently featuring Chinese workers hauling rock in wheelbarrows. Trains are shown navigating through a mountain pass at Cape Horn, and railroad workers are seen posed with locomotives. Other scenes on the Central Pacific route include Soda Springs recreation area, with views of Mark Hopkins' cabin, a man and two women under a gazebo, and a croquet game set up in a meadow. There are a series of views of Lake Tahoe, including two hotels with people posed outside; scenic views of the mountains, lake and surroundings from multiple viewpoints; Emerald Bay; Fallen Leaf Lake; boats and docks; and a lumber mill on the shore at Glenbrook. A narrow-gauge lumber railroad is shown in the mountains near Spooner Summit, and there are two bird's-eye-views of the town of Reno, Nevada, that include the train station, buildings and boardwalks. It is unclear whether these photographs were made under commission from the Central Pacific, but many of the 1876 railroad and landscape views were used, uncredited, in the railroad's official guidebook, The Pacific Tourist (Green, p. 323).
137500; 137501; 137502; 137503
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Kern County Groups
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Image size: 14 1/4 x 21 1/4 in. Note: Collage of 16 agricultural and livestock views. Naef no. 969.
137500; 137501; 137502; 137503
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Kern County Groups
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Image size: 14 1/4 x 21 1/4 in. Note: Collage of 14 agricultural and livestock views. Naef no. 970.
137500; 137501; 137502; 137503
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View Down Kern River, From the Mouth of the Cottonwood, Kern County, Cal
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Image size: 14 1/4 x 21 in. Note: Naef no. 988, dated 1881; Green dates 1880-1881 in correspondence June 12, 2019.
137500; 137501; 137502; 137503