Description
One photograph album containing 12
black and white, salted paper prints. Photographed by G.R. Fardon and published in 1865, the
images are considered the earliest published photographic record of an American city.
Photographs document the development of downtown San Francisco. Photographs primarily
document churches and fire houses in San Francisco.
Background
George Robinson (G.R.) Fardon was born in Birmingham, England in 1807. He first emigrated
to New York, but relocated to San Francisco in 1849, where he started a photography
business. Fardon is believed to have introduced the glass plate negative process to San
Francisco in 1852. Fardon captured photographic views of the city, including a seven-panel
panorama of San Francisco and the published volume San Francisco
Album (also known as Views in California). He moved
to Victoria, British Columbia in 1859 where he continued to work as a photographer. In 1876
he returned to California, opening a photography studio with William H. Bluett. He died and
was buried in Victoria in 1877. References: Palmquist, Peter E. and Thomas Kailbourn. Pioneer Photographs of the Far West: A Biographical Dictionary,
1840-1865 Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2000.
Extent
0.81 Linear Feet
One photograph album and a sleeved pannotype housed in flat box.
Restrictions
Materials in this collection, which were created in 1856, are in the public domain in the
United States. Permission to publish or reproduce is not required.
Availability
RESTRICTED ALBUM; permission of archivist required for use.