Visual Materials

Photographs of Mount Lowe and Mount Wilson cabins and camps, San Gabriel Mountains

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Description: Cabinet card photographs of: Alpine Tavern, Echo Mountain House and white hotel on Mt. Lowe; Mount Wilson vacation camps, tourists, the first observatory, Martin's Camp, Peter Steil (of Steil's Camp) and his baby in front of cabin; Eaton Canyon and Millard's Canyon waterfalls. One unrelated photograph of a Yucca plant in the desert.
Type: Visual Materials(Opens in new tab)
Production date: approximately 1880s-1890s.
Call number: photPF 655-669
Provenance: Acquired from various sources.
Restrictions: Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.
Rights: The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining permission rests with the researcher.

Views of Mount Lowe in the San Gabriel Mountains

Visual Materials

An album with 26 photographs of Mount Lowe, the observatory and other structures, Echo Mountain, and scenic views of the area in the San Gabriel Mountains near Pasadena, California. Views of the observatory include the dark room, the 10-inch telescope, and astronomer Lewis Swift standing in the observatory doorway. Photographs of other structures show Rubio Pavilion, Echo Mountain House, Mount Lowe Railway, and Professor Thaddeus Lowe on the balcony of the "New Hotel". Views around Mount Lowe show several waterfalls, including the Leontine Falls, a number of small canyons, and a view of the San Gabriel Valley and Pasadena. Some of the images have numbers printed on them; item 7 can be positively identified as the work of C.C. Pierce. Visible photographer numbers consist of 180, 559, 605, 623, 637, 641, 651, 695, 721x, 733, 735, 749, 797, 821, 847, 851, 853, 857, 863, 865, 869, and 871.

photCL 146

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Mount Lowe Railway Construction Photographs

Visual Materials

A set of 52 card photographs by photographer William Henry Hill documenting the construction, opening, and early years of the Mount Lowe Railroad in the San Gabriel Mountains above Pasadena, California, in the 1890s. Views include mountain scenery and waterfalls; the building of the incline and other portions of the railway, with images of construction workers; people at building sites on Echo Mountain and Mount Lowe prior to and during construction; groups of people at camps or on trails in the mountains, sometimes on horses or mules and on snow-covered ground; winding machinery and cable; decorated electric cars filled with passengers at the opening ceremony, July 4, 1893; the first passenger cars leaving Mountain Junction in Altadena for Rubio Canyon and ascending the great incline; Rubio Canyon and Rubio Glen, Castle Rock, Castle Canyon, Eaton Canyon, and Grand Canyon; a hotel annex on Echo Mountain; the original mule corral on Echo Mountain; a reception of the California Press and Editorial Association at the residence of Professor Thaddeus Lowe; and the Pasadena Board of Trade Directors arriving at the top of a snowy Mount Lowe in January, 1897. Also included are photographic reproductions of a drawing of the Echo Mountain Hotel, of a mechanical drawing showing the arrangement of winding gear on an incline, and of a map of the site and environs. People of regional and national significance who appear in various pictures include Professor Thaddeus Lowe; chief engineer David J. Macpherson; Theodore Parker Lukens; Judge Benjamin Eaton; George Wharton James; Clarence S. Martin; and Harvard College president Charles William Eliot and party, on occasion of Eliot's visit to Pasadena and Mount Wilson, April 7-8, 1892. Notably, there are at least two photographs that include images of Jason Brown, a son of abolitionist John Brown (Items 19 and 19A). Many photographs have photograph numbers and typed or handwritten captions on the image from the original negative.

photCL 194

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Photographs of the San Gabriel Valley and Mountains

Visual Materials

Consists of 30 photographs, including copy prints, postcards, and snapshots. photPF 2480 is a postcard of the Pasadena Playhouse in the 1940s with a playbill advertising "The Magic Rowan." photPF 2481 is a photograph of a newspaper advertisement for the 1890 Tournament of Roses. photPF 2482 is of Dr. Francis F. Rowland's prize winning coach for the 1890 Tournament of Roses. photPF 2483 is accompanied with handwritten correspondence providing context for the snapshot of a 2nd place winning float for the 1908 Tournament of Roses. photPF 2484 is a postcard with a view of South Pasadena from Monterey Hills with the Raymond Hotel in the distance. photPF 2485 is a postcard of South Pasadena's Cawston Ostrich Farm. photPF 2486 consists of eight photographs of unidentified individuals taken in the San Gabriel Mountains at Orchard camp in August 1913. photPF 2487 consists of three snapshots with an accompanying newspaper clipping of the famous wisteria vine at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Henry T. Fennel at 201 West Carter Avenue, Sierra Madre in 1913. photPF 2488 consists of 12 snapshots of an unidentified group camping and hiking between 1914 and 1919 in the various locations in the San Gabriel Mountains, including the Arroyo Secco, Mount Wilson Pine Flat Cabins, Mount Lowe, Barley Flats, Bear Canyon, and Eaton Canyon. photPF 2489 is a snapshot of an unoccupied coach parked at Lamanda Park in Pasadena.

photPF 2480-2489

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Mount Wilson trail and toll road photographs

Visual Materials

Consists of ten photographs taken along the toll road, trail, half-way house, summit cabin, and Martin's Camp on Mount Wilson. The photos also show the natural landscape, pine trees, pack burros, horse riders, and wagons.

photPF 230-239

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Photographs of South Pasadena, Mount Wilson, and Mount Lowe Railroad

Visual Materials

Consists of ten photographs. Subjects include Major H. N. Rust, W. L. Hardison's home, Mount Wilson, and Mount Lowe. Areas of focus on Mount Wilson are Strain's Camp and Mount Wilson Observatory. Areas of focus on Mount Lowe include the railroad, Rubio Canon, Rubio Pavilion, the Mount Lowe Searchlight, and the Great Incline.

photPF 220-229

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"On Pasadena and Mount Wilson Toll Road." On verso: "Strain's Cabin, built in 1889. Strain's Camp, Wilson's Peak." [View of camp and people]

Visual Materials

This small collection contains 17 commercial card photographs taken by Stiffler & Gill around 1896 promoting outdoor recreational activities and the natural scenery around Mount Wilson in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California. Many of the scenes include historic camp sites including Strain's and Martin's camps, often depicting people amid tents and engaged in recreational activities. Each of the photographs has the title "On Pasadena and Mount Wilson Toll Road" stamped on the mount.

photCL 193

Photographs of Mount Lowe and Mount Wilson cabins and camps, San Gabriel Mountains

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Views of Mount Lowe in the San Gabriel Mountains

Mount Lowe Railway Construction Photographs

Photographs of the San Gabriel Valley and Mountains

Mount Wilson trail and toll road photographs

Photographs of South Pasadena, Mount Wilson, and Mount Lowe Railroad

"On Pasadena and Mount Wilson Toll Road." On verso: "Strain's Cabin, built in 1889. Strain's Camp, Wilson's Peak." [View of camp and people]