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Fair Oaks Ranch Photographs: Finding
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photCL 6
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Title: Fair Oaks Ranch Photographs
Dates (inclusive): approximately 1878-approximately 1900
Bulk dates: approximately 1889
Collection Number: photCL 6
Collector:
James F. Crank Family
Extent:
96 photographs (including duplicates) in 1 box : prints
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Photo Archives
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection contains one photograph album and thirty-five loose photographs depicting the Fair Oaks Ranch, in Altadena,
California, during the late 19th century.
The ranch, owned by businessman and rancher James F. Crank, encompassed a vineyard, winery, and citrus orchards, along with
a lavish residence and grounds.
Subjects include interior and exterior views
of the residence; the Crank family; Chinese agricultural
workers and ranch hands in the vineyard; winery operations; fruit orchards; and trees and plant life on the property. Photographs
in the album are cyanotype prints; the
loose photographs include cyanotypes, cabinet cards, and stereographs.
Language: English.
Note:
Finding aid last updated on 2015-06-15.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
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 necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item], Fair Oaks Ranch Photographs, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Gift of Mildred Crank, 1935-1938.
The Fair Oaks Ranch property (now in modern day Pasadena and Altadena, California) was originally part of the Rancho San Pasqual.
Eliza Griffin Johnston purchased
the property in 1862 from her brother Dr. John S. Griffin, who had large land holdings in the Los Angeles area. Eliza Johnston
named the ranch “Fair Oaks” after
her hometown in West Virginia, but left California after only two years following the death of her son, Albert S. Johnston
II. In 1877, Benjamin S. Eaton took
over the property , subdivided the ranch, and sold the northern parcel to businessman James F. Crank (1842-1935) in 1877.
Crank had recently moved to Los Angeles, California, from the East Coast with his wife,
Mary Agnes Crank (1846-1932), and son, Albert F. Crank (1870-1933).
Crank proceeded to plant vineyards and fruit
orchards and built a Victorian mansion on the property in 1882. In 1885, he constructed a winery and the next year started
the Sierra Madre Vintage Company.
Crank was also president of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad. He hit financial hard times and sold the ranch
around 1905.
This collection consists of one photograph album with 48 photographs and 35 loose photographs (as well as some duplicates),
with images depicting the Fair Oaks Ranch in Altadena, California. The photographs in the album are cyanotype prints dating
from around 1889;
the loose photographs include cyanotypes, cabinet cards, and stereographs that date from the
late 1870s to about 1900.
The last page of the album contains a travel sketch in pencil, followed by sketches of a room interior and floor plan on two
pages laid in. Subjects include interior and exterior views of the residence,
landscaped grounds, trees, and plant life; members of the Crank family; ranch workers, including Chinese laborers, working
in the orchards and vineyard, harvesting and packing fruit, drying apricots, and loading fruit onto horse-drawn carts; workers’
quarters;
the operations of the winery and distillery; and
also a handful of sweeping views of the San Gabriel Mountains and the Altadena and Pasadena areas taken from vantage points
on the property.
The photographer of the album is unknown, but Item 46 shows a wood hutch with a mirror in which the photographer and camera
are reflected. Some of the cabinet
cards and stereographs have imprints from area photographers: C. McMurtrey (Item 80), C.B. Ripley (Items 73-74), and A.C.
Varela (Items 76-78).
Titles have been transcribed from captions on album pages and photo-mounts when present; titles devised by the cataloger
are enclosed in square brackets. Additional information was gathered from notes on the backs of
some photographs. Approximate dates for the collection were devised by the cataloger based on years noted on certain items,
the general history of the property and Crank family,
and also on a year visible on a calendar in Item 46. Thirteen photographs
have duplicates in the collection, which are noted in the inventory below.
Related materials in the Huntington Library
Alternative Form of Materials Available
Visit the
Huntington Digital Library: Photographs
to view digitized images from this collection.
The collection is arranged with the album first, followed by the loose photographs in order of image number.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Crank, James F. -- Photographs.
Crank Family -- Photographs.
Agricultural laborers -- California, Southern -- Photographs.
Agriculture -- California, Southern -- Photographs.
Architecture, Victorian -- California -- Altadena -- Photographs.
Chinese Americans -- California, Southern -- Photographs.
Dwellings -- California -- Altadena -- Photographs.
Gardens -- California, Southern -- Photographs.
Orchards -- California, Southern -- Photographs.
Ranch houses -- California, Southern -- Photographs.
Ranches -- California, Southern -- Photographs.
Trees -- California, Southern -- Photographs.
Upper class families -- California, Southern -- Photographs.
Vineyards -- California, Southern -- Photographs.
Wine and wine making -- California, Southern -- Photographs.
Altadena (Calif.) -- Photographs
California, Southern -- Photographs
Pasadena (Calif.) -- Photographs
San Gabriel Mountains (Calif.) -- Photographs
San Gabriel River Valley (Calif.) -- Photographs
Photographs.
Cabinet photographs.
Cyanotypes.
Stereographs.
Photograph albums.
McMurtrey, C., photographer.
Ripley, C. B., photographer.
Varela, A. C. (Alexander C.), 1839-1915, photographer.