Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Lawrence and Houseworth photograph collection
PC RM Lawrence Houseworth
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
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.
CHS is not taking appointments for research at this time. Please check the Library's website updates:
https://californiahistoricalsociety.org/collections/north-baker-research-library/
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