Visual Materials

Photographic trade card for Watkins' Yosemite Art Gallery

Image not available

Description: A late-19th century photographic trade card, 3 1/4 x 5 inches, with a photograph of Yosemite Valley by Carleton Watkins mounted on the front, and printed promotional information for Watkins' photography studio on the back. The verso reads: "The Yosemite Valley, from the Mariposa Trail. / You are most cordially invited, together with your friends, to visit Watkins' Yosemite Art Gallery, portrait and landscape, 22 and 26 Montgomery Street, opposite Lick House entrance, up stairs, San Francisco, Cal. ..." More text follows, describing the types of photographs available, and ends with "C. E. Watkins."
Type: Visual Materials(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1871-1875
Call number: photPF 26000
Creator: Watkins, Carleton E (1829-1916)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: In library as of 1991.

Watkins' Pacific Coast

Visual Materials

These stereographs are chiefly on yellow or orange mounts, with the text "C.E. Watkins, Pacific Coast" or "Watkins' Pacific Coast" printed in the left margin, and often listing studio addresses including "429 Montgomery Street, San Francisco," "22 and 26 Montgomery Street, opposite Lick House entrance, San Francisco," and "No. 1 Montgomery St., cor Post, San Francisco."

photST Watkins

Image not available

The Yosemite Valley. Watkins Yosemite

Visual Materials

This collection contains 269 stereographs by photographer Carleton E. Watkins, dating from the 1860s to about the 1880s, that chiefly depict buildings, points of interest, and locales in Northern and Southern California. The collection includes 1 stereograph from the Central Pacific Railroad series; 5 stereographs from Watkins' Pacific Railroad Series; 110 stereographs from Watkins' Pacific Coast series; and 150 stereographs from Watkins' New Series. The Watkins' Pacific Coast Series, created between 1861 and 1874, primarily depict locales in Northern California with many images of buildings in San Francisco, views of Yosemite and Mariposa County, Missions, and some mining operations including photographs of the North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Company in Nevada County, California. The Watkins' New Series stereographs, created between 1874 and 1890, consist of images of both Southern California and Northern California, in cities including San Francisco, Pasadena, San Marino, Sierra Madre, and San Gabriel. Among the Southern California residences and properties depicted include the Sunny Slope Ranch of L.J. Rose in San Gabriel, Willow Dale owned by N.C. Carter, and Lake Vineyard owned by B.D. Wilson. Some of the stereographs in Watkins' Pacific Coast Series include titles in the margins in Watkins' own hand (see Nos. 1033, 1135, 1146, 1153, and 1721).

photST Watkins

Image not available

Scenes in Yosemite photograph album

Visual Materials

1 photograph album containing 13 black-and-white photographs of landscapes in Yosemite Valley, California, taken by photographer Carleton Watkins in the 1870s. The images focus on the natural scenery including mountains, waterfalls, and trees. Each photograph is labeled with a typed caption pasted to the album page.

photCL 409

Image not available

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

Image not available

[Mount Watkins, Fully Reflected in Mirror Lake, Yosemite]

Visual Materials

[Watkins no. 75] Written in pencil at bottom of mount: "Mirror Lake, Yosemite, No. 75. C. E. Watkins."

(photCL Watkins 86)

Image not available

On the way to the lower falls, Watkins Yosemite

Visual Materials

photST Watkins

Photographic trade card for Watkins' Yosemite Art Gallery

Opening Hours

Admission Info and Tickets

You might also be interested in

Watkins' Pacific Coast

The Yosemite Valley. Watkins Yosemite

Scenes in Yosemite photograph album

Carleton Watkins photographs: Mammoth Tree Grove, Yosemite

[Mount Watkins, Fully Reflected in Mirror Lake, Yosemite]

On the way to the lower falls, Watkins Yosemite