The collection consists of 325 photographs (the majority of which are housed in two photograph albums), 574 negatives, one book, and ephemera, created and collected by Frank Rolfe, 1899-1959, that depict locations throughout California and the Western United States. Many of these were locations where Rolfe, a geologist, worked on various surveys, including the Los Angeles aqueduct survey.

Frank Rolfe was born in Gold Hill, Nevada in 1874, where his father was working as a miner on the Comstock Lode. In 1881, the family settled on a ranch in the Temescal Valley in Riverside County, near what is now Corona, and in 1890, in order to further her children’s education, Rolfe’s mother moved herself and the children to Los Angeles; they spent winters in the city and summers on the family ranch. Frank graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1894, and earned a degree in geology from Stanford University in 1898. He worked on the Los Angeles aqueduct survey, and possibly on the construction of the Ludlow and Southern Railway. He was a long-time member of the Historical Society of Southern California, and authored articles on California history and geology that appeared in Historical Society publications and the Los Angeles Times in the 1930s; he was also the author of “Commercial Geography of southern California,” published by Biola Press, c.1915.

7 boxes, 5.71 linear feet

All requests for permission to publish photographs must be submitted in writing to the Curator of Photographs. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Huntington as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.