Descriptive Summary
Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Biography/Administrative History
Scope and Content of Collection
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: George T. Bowen Photographs
Dates: 1900-1940s
Collection Number: SFP 77
Creator/Collector:
Extent: 8 boxes of approximately 1,000 images (340 glass plate negatives, 600 film negatives and approximately 150 photographic prints)
Repository:
San Francisco Public Library. San Francisco History Center
San Francisco, California 94102
Abstract: Collection of over 1,000 images (340 glass plate negatives, 600 film negatives and approximately 150 photographic prints)
taken by amateur photographer George T. Bowen between 1900 and 1934 of mostly San Francisco, California. A significant portion
of the collection documents San Francisco and the Bay Area prior to and just following the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. The photo
documentation includes ruins of City Hall, San Francisco Chronicle building, San Mateo County Courthouse in ruins, the Sweeney
Cyclorama in Golden Gate Park both before and after the earthquake. There are views of the Sunset District, Mission Dolores;
streetcars; motoring in Saratoga in 1909; and tunnel and road building in San Francisco.
Language of Material: English
Access
The collection is currently unprocessed but available for research. Please contact the Photo Curator. The collection is available
for use during Photo Desk hours.
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to publish from photographs must be submitted in writing to the Photo Curator. Permission for
publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item]. George T. Bowen Photographs. Collection Number: SFP 77. San Francisco Public Library. San Francisco
History Center
Acquisition Information
Gift from the family of the photographer George T. Bowen. 2006-111.
Biography/Administrative History
George Thomas Bowen was born on March 29, 1880 to Mary Jane and George S. Bowen in Monterey, California. Bowen married Cornelia
Henrietta Hobron and the couple had four children between 1904 and 1914. In 1898 Bowen had begun his career as a journeyman
painter and the couple lived in San Jose, California. By 1902, the family moved to San Francisco, Bowen began photographing
San Francisco soon after moving to the city and he was employed as a foreman for H. Maundrell in San Francisco. In 1919 the
company became Maundrell and Bowen. By 1924, Bown became the sole owner of the painting contracting business and was also
president of the Master Painters and Decorators Association of California. Starting in 1910, the family lived in Noe Valley
at 2104 Castro Street for twenty years and then moved to 384 San Benito Way in St. Francis Woods by 1930.
George Thomas Bowen died in Napa, California on January 1, 1957.
Scope and Content of Collection
Collection of over 1,000 images (340 glass plate negatives, 600 film negatives and approximately 150 photographic prints)
taken by amateur photographer George T. Bowen between 1900 and 1934 of mostly San Francisco, California. A significant portion
of the collection documents San Francisco and the Bay Area prior to and just following the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. The photo
documentation includes ruins of City Hall, San Francisco Chronicle building, San Mateo County Courthouse in ruins, the Sweeney
Cyclorama in Golden Gate Park both before and after the earthquake. Thear are views of the Sunset District, Mission Dolores;
streetcars; motoring in Saratoga in 1909; and tunnel and road building in San Francisco. About 70 of the 350 glass negatives
are of Golden Gate Park. Most of the film negatives are copy negatives of earlier views of San Francisco 1851 onward. About
80 of the film negatives are original shots by Bowen documenting the construction of the Hoover Dam in 1934.
Collection includes typed log documenting some of the negatives.
