Historical Society of Southern California Collection - Thornton Fitzhugh Collection of Architectural Photographs and Ephemera:
Finding
Aid
Finding aid prepared by Huntington Library Staff.
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
© 2016
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.
Overview of the Collection
Title: Historical Society of Southern California Collection - Thornton Fitzhugh Collection of Architectural Photographs and Ephemera
Dates (inclusive): approximately 1895-approximately 1928
Collection Number: photCL 400 volume 10
Collector:
Fitzhugh, Thornton, 1864-1933
Extent:
184 photographs and ephemera in 1 box
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: Disbound album with photographs, clippings, and other ephemera related to the architectural work of American architect Thornton
Fitzhugh (1864-1933).
The collection chiefly consists of photographs and renderings of commercial and residential buildings designed by Fitzhugh
in Los Angeles and Arizona.
Language: English.
Access
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
Administrative Information
Publication 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 necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Historical Society of Southern California Collection - Thornton Fitzhugh Collection of Architectural
Photographs and Ephemera, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Provenance
Gift of the Historical Society of Southern California, 1992.
Biographical Note
Architect Thornton Fitzhugh (1864-1933) designed many notable buildings in the Los Angeles area and Arizona. He maintained
offices in Los Angeles at 864
Pacific Electric Building and later at 401 N. Avenue 50, and in Phoenix, Arizona. Fitzhugh is probably best known for the
design and construction of Henry E. Huntington's
Pacific Electric Building and the exclusive Jonathan Club. He worked chiefly with reinforced concrete and gained a considerable
reputation as a pioneer and expert in the use of
this material. He built office buildings, banks, churches, government facilities such as mental hospitals and penal institutions,
and residential apartments and homes.
Historical Note of HSSC
Founded in 1883, the Historical Society of Southern California (HSSC) is the oldest historical society in California. As part
of its mission to collect and preserve Southern California’s history,
the HSSC amassed a photo archive over many decades. The HSSC shifted its emphasis to programs and publications in the 1980s
and, in 1992, the organization donated its photo archive to The Huntington Library.
The Historical Society of Southern California Collection contains approximately 15,000 photographs and negatives focused on
Southern California from approximately 1870 to 1980. As such, it is an
important visual record of the growth and history of the region. The collection represents a variety of donations made to
the Society over many years. It is organized into discrete sub-collections
(each with a unique “volume” number) within the overall collection, which is identified by call number photCL 400.
Scope and Content
The collection contains photographs, clippings, and other ephemera related to the architectural work of Thornton Fitzhugh.
Included are photographs and renderings of commercial and residential
buildings designed by Fitzhugh in Los Angeles and Arizona; among the more notable are the Pacific Electric Building, the Jonathan
Club, Union Labor Temple, and Bimini Hot Springs, in Los Angeles,
and the Territorial Institute for the Insane, Phoenix. The original album contained many loose and unidentified photographs
and for this reason the original order of the collection was not preserved.
The collection was originally in album form and titled "Some Examples of Architectural Work from the Office of Thornton Fitzhugh,
Los Angeles, Cal. & Phoenix, Arizona."
Related materials in the Huntington Library
The sub-collections of the Historical Society of Southern California Collection (photCL 400) are
individually cataloged in the
Huntington Online Catalog.
Indexing Terms
Subjects
Arizona Territorial Prison -- Photographs.
St. Joseph's Hospital (Phoenix, Ariz.) -- Photographs.
Pacific Electric Railway Company -- Buildings -- Photographs.
Apartment houses -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
Architecture -- Arizona -- Phoenix -- Photographs.
Architecture -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
Architecture, Domestic -- Photographs.
Bank buildings -- California -- Photographs.
Commercial buildings -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
Concrete construction -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
Concrete construction -- Arizona -- Photographs.
Church buildings -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
Political clubs -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Photographs.
Arizona -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Photographs.
Forms/Genres
Photographs.
Clippings.
Letters.
Postcards.
Contributors
Tener, R. E., photographer.
Baker, Chas. H., photographer.
Martin, Frederick W., photographer.
Pillsbury, Arthur C. (Arthur Clarence), photographer.
Galezio, L. A., photographer.
Ephemera
6 items including clippings related to the life and
career of Thornton Fitzhugh. Includes a letter to
HSSC explaining the donation of the Fitzhugh
album; a biographical sketch from a magazine
(n.d.), and some unidentified renderings.
Items 1-19
Pacific Electric Building, Los Angeles
Progress shots of the construction, April–August 1904. Photographer: R.E. Tener, Los
Angeles
Items 20-24
Jonathan Club, Los Angeles
Architectural details of the ballroom on top floor of the Pacific Electric Building,
Los Angeles.
Items 25-36
Jonathan Club, Los Angeles
Views of the interior and the roof garden. Photographer: Chas. H. Baker, 538 ½
Broadway, Los Angeles.
Items 37-43
Territorial Institute for the Insane, Phoenix, AZ
Views of the architectural rendering, construction, and the completed building.
Items 44-54
Territorial Prison, Florence, Arizona
Architectural rendering and construction views.
Items 55-57
St. Joseph’s Hospital, Phoenix, Arizona
Exterior views and one letter.
Items 58-61
Arizona buildings and stores
Valley Bank and Vault, Phoenix; Stores and offices, Mesa, Arizona; Unidentified
building housing Arizona Gazette and Arizona Fire Insurance Co.
Items 62-63
Union Labor Temple, Maple Ave., Los Angeles
Exterior and interior view, 1906-1907.
Items 64-69
H.L. Benbough Furniture Co., Los Angeles?
Construction views, June–September 1926. Photographer: Sensor Studio, 935 E. St.,
San Diego
Items 70-74
First Presbyterian Church, Los Angeles; First United Presbyterian Church, Los
Angeles
Interior and exterior views, ca. 1895.
Items 75-77
First United Presbyterian Church, Los Angeles
Letters and other ephemera.
Items 78-82
Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church South, 9th & Grand Avenue, Los
Angeles.
Interior views; 1 clipping; 1 photomechanical print of exterior.
Items 83-85
Buildings in Highland Park area of Los Angeles
Views of the Bank of Highland Park and the Presbyterian Church of Highland Park. 2
clippings; 1 postcard.
Items 86-88
American National Bank Building, Monrovia, Calif.
1 exterior view; 1 clipping; 1 letter.
Items 89-91
Unidentified bank building. Interior views.
Items 92-96
The Mayfair Apartments 40 St. James Park, Los Angeles
Exterior and interior views.
Items 97-98
Percival Apartments 845 S. Hill Street, Los Angeles
Exterior and interior view.
Items 99-101
New Maryton Apartments Olive Street, Los Angeles
Architectural rendering and 2 interior views.
Items 102-104
Bimini Hot Springs, Los Angeles
Items 105-109
Architectural Renderings – Various Projects
Echo Mountain Hotel; Elk’s Hall; Unidentified projects.
Items 110-119
Ritchie Residence, Hemet, California
Exterior and interior views. Photographer: L.A. Galezio
Item 120
J.C. Kirkpatrick Residence, Figueroa St., Los Angeles
1 exterior view. Photographer: A.C. Pillsbury
Items 121-129
Unidentified Residences -Exterior views
Items 130-135
Unidentified Residences -Interior views.
Items 136-143
Miscellaneous & unidentified views and buildings
Item 144
Baker-Detwiler Building, 412-418 West 6th Street, Los Angeles
Exterior view. Photo of architectural rendering.
Item 145
Interior of Reception Hall, Unidentified residence, Los Angeles
Note on verso says that $3200.00 house.
Items 146-149
Unidentified residence, Berkeley?, Calif.
Exterior and interior views. Photographer: McCullagh, Berkeley, Calif.
Items 150-151
Exterior views of tea and gift shop, unidentified location.
Items 152-155
Unidentified and miscellaneous interior views
Photographer: Frederick W. Martin, Pasadena, Calif.
Items 156-184
Thomas D. Murphy Residence, 346 Lorraine Blvd., Los Angeles
Interior and exterior views.
Item 185
Clipping re: Los Angeles Athletic Club building From Los Angeles Examiner,
1/25/1908