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Clarke's (Alfred) Water Works photograph album
PC PA 225
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
California Historical Society
Title: (Alfred) Clarke's Water Works photograph album
Creator:
Clarke, Alfred, 1832-1902
creator:
Walton, James W.
Identifier/Call Number: PC PA 225
Physical Description:
1.23 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1890-1891
Abstract: Photograph album containing 25 albumen
prints of views of Clarke's Water Works, San Francisco, taken by James W. Walton between
1890-1891. The photograph album documents Alfred Clarke's early San Francisco water company,
Clarke's Water Works, located in the Glen Park and Eureka Valley neighborhoods of San
Francisco.
Language of Material: Collection materials are in
English.
CHS is not taking appointments for research at this time. Please check the Library's website updates:
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Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Alexander Thomas Leonard, M.D. to the San Francisco Historical Society; transferred
to the California Historical Society.
Alfred Clarke arrived in San Francisco in 1850 from Ireland. After a failed attempt at
striking it rich in the gold country of Nevada County, Clarke returned to San Francisco and
began work with the San Francisco Police Department. He built his mansion in Eureka Valley
at Douglass Street and Caselli Avenue. An ongoing fued with his neighbor, Behrend Joost,
prompted him to start Clarke's Water Works in 1891, a service that supplied water to Eureka
Valley residents and competed with Joost's Mountain Spring Water Company. Clarke died in San
Francisco in 1902.
Most titles supplied by cataloger using captions original to the photograph album.
Clarke named many local natural features and his water system equipment after admired
political figures. Cataloger has included generally accepted names of local natural features
the parenthesis following the names created by Clarke.
Handwritten notes and captions by photograph album's owner, Alexander Thomas Leonard, were
added years after the creation of the photograph album.
[Identification of item, date]; (Alfred) Clarke's Water Works photograph album; California
Historical Society.
Photograph album containing 25 albumen prints of views of Clarke's Water Works, San
Francisco, taken by James W. Walton between 1890-1891. The photograph album documents Alfred
Clarke's early San Francisco water company located in the Glen Park and Eureka Valley
neighborhoods of San Francisco. Nearly all photographs include a printed descriptive caption
detailing the location and purpose of Clarke's water projects. Photographs show and captions
describe features of the water system including Blaine Engine House and Pump; the Blaine Dam
and Nellie Dam; the Nellie Reservoir; and the man-made Lake Lincoln. Other natural features
of the Eureka Valley and Glen Park areas documented in the photograph album include Mount
Lincoln (commonly known as Mount Davidson); Mount Blaine (commonly known as Gold Mine Hill);
and Lake Farragut (commonly known as Pine Lake). Clarke's mansion at Douglass Street and
Caselli Avenue is also featured in the photograph album. Photograph album includes
descriptive captions original to its creation and additional notes added later by the
photograph album's owner, Alexander Thomas Leonard. One page of the album is missing its
original photograph, although the original caption still remains. Three clippings of the
San Francisco Chronicle Riptides column and a clipping of
an obituary for Joseph Huff published in the
San Francisco Call
Bulletin
are affixed to the pages in place of the missing photograph.
Materials in this collection, which were created in 1890-1891, are in the public domain in
the United States. Permission to publish or reproduce is not required.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Dams -- California -- San Francisco -- Pictorial works
Eureka Valley (San Francisco, Calif.) -- Pictorial works
Glen Canyon (San Francisco, Calif.) -- Pictorial works
Glen Park (San Francisco, Calif.) -- Pictorial works
Reservoir -- California -- San Francisco -- Pictorial works
Water-supply -- California -- San Francisco -- Pictorial
works
Water utilities -- California -- San Francisco -- Pictorial
works
Albumen prints
Photograph albums
Clarke's Water Works