Tibbitts (H.C.) Photographs, circa 1908

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Summary

Title:
H.C. Tibbitts Photographs
Dates:
circa 1908
Abstract:
A collection of ninety-six silver-gelatin photographs of Northern and Central California agriculture, tourism, Southern Pacific Railway equipment, buildings, and tracks is attributed to Howard Clinton Tibbitts. These photos were taken two years following the devastating San Francisco Earthquake of 1906.
Extent:
96 photographic prints
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], H.C. Tibbitts Photographs, D-797, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University of California, Davis.

Background

Scope and content:

Information provided by the bookseller: William Reese Co.

A collection of ninety-six silver-gelatin photographs taken two years following the devastating San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 by Howard Clinton Tibbitts. The photographs focus in detail on turn-of-the-century California agriculture, vineyards, tourist destinations, towns, and railway infrastructure along the northernmost portion of the Sunset Route, and includes photographs of vineyards in Napa, Sonoma, and Fresno counties, sugar beet farming and refining, water sources relied on by all forms of agriculture in the Central Valley, major thoroughfares and buildings in cities and towns along the route, and photographs of Southern Pacific stations, tracks, roundhouses, ferries, and trains used throughout Northern and Central California. These photographs not only capture the growth of the towns and cities in the region, but also show the agricultural methods of the time used in or near the towns and cities pictured, as well as the complex railway infrastructure that made the growth of the entire region possible.

Wine Country and the Bay

Photographs of California's wine country include a view of an undeveloped portion of Calistoga Hot Springs; stagecoaches preparing to leave a downtown Calistoga hotel; Healdsburg Avenue in Healdsburg; Napa's iconic Greystone Cellars; a USDA experimental vineyard in Napa; and a view of Hispanic, Asian, and White workers harvesting grapes at Napa's Beaulieu Vineyards.

Photographs of Sonoma County include images of the unrestored exteriors of General Vallejo's home and the Sonoma Mission.

Images of California's North Bay region are represented in images of the Southern Pacific's San Francisco train ferry, "Solano," docking in Benicia Harbor. Meanwhile, San Francisco is shown in images of two ferries in San Francisco Bay, and in the background of images of the Southern Pacific's Bayshore cutoff (a rail line that ran between San Francisco and San Bruno).

Tibbitts also captured the East Bay with pictures of Oakland, Alameda, Hayward, Livermore, and Pleasanton. These images include the busy corner of Telegraph Avenue and Broadway in Oakland, the Southern Pacific Station in Berkeley, the Alameda Sugar Company in Hayward, and downtown Alameda on Park Street near the Fisher City market. Images of Livermore include Olivina's olive groves, Pioneer Winery, and a shot of a fourteen-foot cornstalk with its proud grower holding fresh ears of corn in their hand. Photographs of the town of Pleasanton include images of Ruby Hill Winery and a view of harvested sugar beets. In other images, workers in Hayward are hauling salt from an immense salt pile along the shore.

The Central Valley

Photographs of California's agricultural center and the nation's breadbasket include photographs of Sacramento. These images include the state capital, Sutter's Fort, and photographs of Southern Pacific's Sacramento hub, including the depot and surrounding yards, a roundhouse, a wrecking car, and Southern Pacific's McKeen Motor car – a rail car powered by an internal combustion engine.

Further south, images of Stockton show downtown Main Street, the courthouse, the county hospital, and the high school (built approximately four years prior to this photograph), with well-dressed students exiting the building and walking down the broad avenue leading from the school.

Moving further south, Tibbitts photographed Modesto – the heart of the Central Valley. Tibbitts' photographs of downtown Modesto show a busy street, the high school, the county hospital, and the courthouse. Tibbits also took photographs of agriculture in and around Modesto, including alfalfa production, oat harvesting, a fig orchard, and an olive grove.

Slightly to the east, Tibbitts took images of the giant sequoia trees in the Mariposa Grove (including the "Fallen Monarch" and the "Grizzly Giant"); captured Merced's Canal Street and courthouse; a lumber flume in Clovis; and a photograph of dairy cans filled with cream from the Central Valley; and a photo of dairies being loaded into boxcars at a depot in Neuman.

Tibbitts' photographic tour of central California ends in Fresno, with views of the Southern Pacific Depot, the county hospital, the high school, and the courthouse. Agriculture in the Fresno region is represented by photographs of the Santa Maria Vineyard, a shot of the Pacific Coast Seeded Raisin Company's plant no. 8, and the St. George Vineyard.

Biographical / historical:

Howard Clinton Tibbitts (1863-1937) was a San Francisco-based photographer who began working for the Southern Pacific Railway in 1892. By 1898, Tibbitts' work was featured in the Southern Pacific Railroad's tourist magazine, Sunset, which showcased the people and places along the Southern Pacific's Sunset Route (between San Francisco and New Orleans).

Acquisition information:
Purchased from William Reese Co., March 2025.
Processing information:

Vanessa Cardona Ocegueda created this finding aid with information provided by the bookseller, William Reese Co.

Arrangement:

Photographs are arranged in order by the corresponding image number.

Physical location:
Researchers should contact Archives and Special Collections to request collections, as many are stored off site.
Physical description:
Ninety-six silver gelatin photographs, measuring approximately 7¾ x 6 inches, with contemporary ink captions on verso. Each photograph is captioned in manuscript by the same contemporary hand and includes a four-digit identification number (possibly corresponding to the identification number of the negative), and in some cases includes the notation, "copyright Southern Pacific 1908."
Physical facet:
Ninety-six silver gelatin photographs, measuring approximately 7¾ x 6 inches, with contemporary ink captions on verso.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Vanessa Cardona-Ocegueda
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-12-19 14:47:07 -0800 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open to research.

Terms of access:

All applicable copyrights for the collection are protected under chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code. Requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Archives and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California as the owner of the physical items. It is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], H.C. Tibbitts Photographs, D-797, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University of California, Davis.

Location of this collection:
University of California, Davis, Special Collections, UC Davis Library
100 NW Quad
Davis, CA 95616-5292, US
Contact:
(530) 752-1621
speccoll@ucdavis.edu
Website