Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Rare Books
Souvenir of Panama and the canal
Image not available
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Image not available
Visual Materials
This is a collection primarily of negatives and photographic prints depicting the growth of Santa Monica and Los Angeles, California, from 1860s to 1980s. Many views are cityscapes or street views, showing buildings, storefronts, homes and roads, and documenting the use of railroads, trolleys, streetcars, and automobiles. There are many card photographs by early professional photographers, and also a number of snapshots made by amateurs, some in personal photo albums. The collection's scope also includes early views of many other communities in Southern California (and a few in other states); the beginnings of aviation in Santa Monica, including the first Douglas Aircraft Company buildings; a photo album of residents in Topanga Canyon, ca. 1913; automobile racing in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, 1920s; maritime views; a photo album of U.S. troops in France during World War I; a 1949 real estate development in Apple Valley, California, and others. Besides photographs, a portion of the collection consists of scarce publications and historical ephemera, primarily related to Santa Monica and Los Angeles, including brochures, advertising cards, menus, event programs and other materials. Highlights of the Santa Monica images are aerial views of the buildings along the coast and pier (1920s); several views of the Arcadia Hotel (1880s); the Long Wharf and adjoining railroad and train depot; the first bath houses on the beach; the beach club culture of the 1920s and 1930s; the amusement piers of Santa Monica, Ocean Park and Venice; and the beginnings of the Douglas Aircraft Company. There is a large set of promotional photographs made late 1920s-1930s by Powell Press Service depicting people enjoying Santa Monica's beaches, clubs and outdoor recreation. An important subset within the collection is 407 negatives made ca. 1890 - 1908 by Los Angeles historian and amateur photographer George W. Hazard (1842-1914). Hazard travelled around Los Angeles and vicinity photographing the adobes, houses, streets and storefronts that told the early history of the city. Many of Hazard's negatives have handwritten identifications, naming streets, former homeowners, ranchos, and other historical details. There are a large number of cabinet cards and other card-mounted prints and stereographs. There are 1,264 stereograph prints, highlighted by the works of photographic pioneers William M. Godfrey, Francis Parker, Hayward & Muzzall, and Carleton Watkins. Other formats represented are: glass and film negatives; panoramic prints; 7 photograph albums, photographic postcards, 20th-century color prints and transparencies; and a small number of tintypes, cyanotypes and a set of chromolithographs.
photCL 555
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Rare Books
A Bird's-eye view in anticipation of the canal's opening in 1915. Three dimensional map. "Copyright 1911 by F. D. Graves, New York." "C. P. Gray Mapmaker, New York." Profile and data furnished by the Isthmian Canal Commission. MS notes: Pac. Mail S.C. Map F.. Prime meridian: GM. Relief: shaded. Graphic Scale: Miles. Projection: Plane. Printing Process: Lithography.
19952
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Visual Materials
The Huntington Library's Collection of Panoramic Photographs, 1851 to 2014, depicts a wide variety of subjects and provides an important resource for the visual history of the United States, with a particular emphasis on California and the American West. Subjects include landscapes, group portraits, and miscellaneous views. The collection also contains photographs by some of the better known photographers and photographic firms of the first part of the twentieth century. Photographers and publishers represented in the collection include Charles Z. Bailey; Bailey and Ramsey; Bryant Studio; Bunnell Photo Shop; California Panorama Company; Bell Clements; Fay Foto Service; R.J. Gallagher; George. R. Lawrence Company; J.D. Givens; Gordon Panoramic Photo Company; Griffith Photo; Harris Photographic Company; Karen Halverson; George W. Hazard; L.M. Hermance; Hiller; Hughes Photos; William Henry Jackson; I.L. Maduro; Mayhart Studio; C.R. Nock; Panorama Publishing Company; Pettit's Studio; Photo News Service; C.C. Pierce; A.C. Pillsbury; Pillsbury Picture Company; Prince Photo; G.H. Rice; H.H. Rideout; Sanford and Black Photo News Service; Thompson; O.A. Tunnell; H.A. Varble; Miles F. Weaver; and West Coast Art Company. Notable in the collection is a contemporary four-plate ambrotype in a frame; it is a panoramic view of the Los Angeles River, 2014, by Michael Kolster (photPAN 147).
photPAN