Visual Materials

Carleton E. Watkins photographs

Description: This series contains 430 photographs by Carleton E. Watkins depicting buildings, points of interest, people, and scenery in Northern and Southern California, with some views in Arizona, in the 1870s and 1880s.
Type: Visual Materials(Opens in new tab)
Date: approximately 1870s-1880s
Call number: photCL 74
Creator: Watkins, Carleton E (1829-1916)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: In the personal library of Henry E. Huntington. Recorded in library card catalog, 1928. Presumed to have been the gift of Carleton E. Watkins to Collis P. Huntington. Henry E. Huntington was the executor of Collis P. Huntington's estate.

Carleton E. Watkins photograph collection

Visual Materials

This collection contains 430 photographs by photographer Carleton E. Watkins that chiefly depict buildings, points of interest, people, and scenery in Northern and Southern California in the 1870s and 1880s, as well as 223 photographs by photographer Alfred A. Hart documenting the construction of the western half of the transcontinental railroad by the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) in the 1860s, which were later published by Watkins under his own imprint. Images by Watkins depict locations in California and Arizona including: Lake Tahoe, Los Angeles, the Mammoth Tree Grove, Paso Robles, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Gabriel, San Luis Obispo, San Pedro, Santa Monica, Soda Springs, Wilmington, and Yosemite, as well as views related to the Southern Pacific Railroad and of the Colorado River. There are a few images of Native Americans in Arizona and California, and several images related to trains and railroads. Photograph titles in the contents list were transcribed, when available, from captions and titles on the images; titles in square brackets were devised by Huntington Library staff.

photCL 74

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Carleton Watkins photographs: Mammoth Tree Grove, Yosemite

Visual Materials

This collection contains 430 albumen photographs by photographer Carleton E. Watkins that chiefly depict buildings, points of interest, and locales in Northern and Southern California in the 1870s and 1880s, as well as 223 card photographs by photographer Alfred A. Hart documenting the construction of the western half of the transcontinental railroad by the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) in the 1860s, which were later published by Watkins under his own imprint. Images by Watkins depict locations in Arizona and California including: Lake Tahoe, Los Angeles, the Mammoth Tree Grove, Paso Robles, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Gabriel, San Luis Obispo, San Pedro, Santa Monica, Soda Springs, Wilmington, and Yosemite, as well as views related to the Southern Pacific Railroad and of the Colorado River. There are a few images of Native Americans in Arizona and California, and several images related to trains and railroads. The photographs have been removed from the original album, which is a large leather album with brass bindings (Box 10). There are some handwritten identifications in the album pages, most likely written after if was received by the Library.

photCL 74

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Carleton Watkins photographs: Trains; boats; Soda Springs

Visual Materials

photCL 74

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Carleton Watkins photographs: Soda Springs; Lake Tahoe; Mammoth Tree Grove

Visual Materials

photCL 74

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Carleton Watkins photographs: San Gabriel Valley; Santa Barbara; various Southern California

Visual Materials

photCL 74

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Carleton Watkins photographs: Los Angeles; San Diego; Wilmington; San Pedro; Arizona

Visual Materials

photCL 74

Carleton E. Watkins photographs

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Carleton E. Watkins photograph collection

Carleton Watkins photographs: Mammoth Tree Grove, Yosemite

Carleton Watkins photographs: Trains; boats; Soda Springs

Carleton Watkins photographs: Soda Springs; Lake Tahoe; Mammoth Tree Grove

Carleton Watkins photographs: San Gabriel Valley; Santa Barbara; various Southern California

Carleton Watkins photographs: Los Angeles; San Diego; Wilmington; San Pedro; Arizona