Collection Guide
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Lawrence and Houseworth photograph collection
PC RM Lawrence Houseworth
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
California Historical Society
Title: Lawrence and Houseworth photograph collection
Creator:
Lawrence & Houseworth
Creator:
Weed, Charles Leander
Identifier/Call Number: PC RM Lawrence Houseworth
Physical Description:
0.5 box
1 photo box, half of which is Lawrence and Houseworth and half of which is Houseworth and Co.
Date (inclusive): 1860-1870
Abstract: Lawrence and Houseworth were one of the main publishers of stereoviews on the West coast around the 1860s. They sold views
primarily of California and Nevada, and the majority of their photographs are of nature scenes, and the wonders of California's
redwoods, geysers, lakes and mountains. The collection contains commercial formats - stereographs and cartes de visites. They
were taken by photographer Charles Leander Weed and published by Lawrence and Houseworth, who did a brisk business selling
these formats, and were competitive with other merchants of stereoviews.
Language of Material: Collection materials are in English.
Like many, Thomas Houseworth (1828-1915), a native New Yorker, travelled West with an interest in mining and arrived San Francisco
in 1849. Houseworth met George S. Lawrence (dates unknown) while working a claim in Calaveras County, Calif. The two men were
mining partners for the next two years, looking for gold in Trinity County, Calif. Lawrence settled in San Francisco, where
he opened a jewelry shop and, later, in 1852, an optical shop - which he asserted was the first of its kind on the Pacific
Coast. In 1855, Lawrence and Houseworth formally established a partnership, selling stereoscopic views and equipment. Intended
as a form of armchair travel, stereographs made use of the principles of binocular vision ("the mental fusing of slightly
dissimilar images seen separately by the viewer's two eyes into one image with three-dimensional characteristics"). As optometrists,
Lawrence and Houseworth were uniquely well-positioned to bring this new technology to the masses.
The men got starting selling stereographs of exotic locales published by others (such as the London Stereoscopic Company),
but, in 1863, began publishing their own views. The majority of the images that they published, including photographs of the
1862 Sacramento flood and of Yosemite, were taken by photographer Charles Leander Weed. He later became their in-house photographer,
and Lawrence and Houseworth sponsored Weed's photographic expedition to Nevada and Yosemite. Weed later developed a rivalry
with San Francisco's other main photographer of stereoviews, Carleton Watkins.
By 1864, Lawrence and Houseworth were publishing stereographs in earnest, and needed to expand their facilities to storefronts
at 317 and 319 Montgomery Street in San Francisco. In 1867, Lawrence and Houseworth received a bronze medal for their views
at the Paris International Exposition. In 1868, George S. Lawrence retired, leaving Thomas Houseworth to continue the business.
Information taken from:
Palmquist, Peter E. and Thomas R. Kailbourn.
Pioneer Photographers of the Far West: A Biographical Dictionary, 1840-1865. Stanford University Press, 2000.
Palmquist, Peter E.
Lawrence and Houseworth/Thomas Houseworth and Co.: A Unique View of the West 1860-1886. National Stereoscopic Association, 1980.
Collection is open for research.
Materials in this collection are in the public domain in the United States. Permission to publish or reproduce is not required.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Collection is comprised of multiple donations from various donors. Please see collection files for more information.
[Identification of item, date]; Lawrence and Houseworth photograph collection, PC-RM-Lawrence-Houseworth; [box number, folder
number]; California Historical Society.
The collection consists of stereographs and cartes de visite published by opticians Lawrence and Houseworth of San Francisco
between 1860 and 1870, with the bulk of images produced between 1863 and 1866. Most of the photographs were likely taken by
Charles Leander Weed. The collection contains 49 stereographs and 38 cartes de visites, all albumen. The images primarily
document California and Nevada, and include photographs of Sacramento, San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Yosemite. They include
pictures of natural features such as Lake Tahoe, Donner Lake, the geysers of Sonoma county, and the Mammoth Sequoia trees
in Calaveras county. There are images of hydraulic mining, major sea ports, and important buildings and intersections in San
Francisco.
An additional photograph of Lawrence and Houseworth's optometry studio, located at 198 Clay Street, San Francisco, can be
found in General Subjects -- Photographers -- (San Francisco -- J-L), PC-GS: Box 058.
The collection is organized by format into two series, and from there is organized geographically and chronologically. The
geographic subseries and dates are taken from Peter Palmquist's book
Lawrence and Houseworth / Thomas Houseworth and Co.: A Unique View of the West 1860-1886 (National Stereoscopic Association, 1980). The dates are Palmquist's guesses at dates when the views were produced, as opposed
to the dates printed on the cards themselves, which are likely copyright dates. Most images include an original title and
number and, within each geographic subseries, items are arranged numerically.
The collection was processed by Erin Hurley in 2018. Wendy Welker previously processed the stereographs in 2003-2004.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Cartes de visite
Stereographs
Portrait photographs
San Francisco (Calif.) -- Pictorial works
Yosemite Valley (Calif.) -- Pictorial works
Floods -- California -- Sacramento -- Pictorial works
Streets -- California -- San Francisco -- Pictorial works
Washo Indians -- Pictorial works
Tahoe, Lake (Calif. and Nev.) -- Pictorial works
Donner Lake (Calif.) -- Pictorial works
Lumber trade -- California -- Pictorial works
Mines and mineral resources -- California -- Pictorial works
Hydraulic mining -- California -- Yuba River -- Pictorial works
Optometry