C. C. Pierce Collection, late 19th-early 20th century

Title: C. C. Pierce Collection, late 19th-early 20th century

Dates: 1900

Collection Number: P-077

Creator/Collector: Pierce, C. C. (Charles C.), 1861-1946

Extent: (Boxes: 6 letter, 1 1/2 letter, 7 ov folders)

Repository: Seaver Center for Western History Research, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Abstract: Photographs of Los Angeles and Southern California by prominent local photographer Charles C. Pierce. ca. 1900, undated.

Language of Material: English

Research is by appointment only

Permission to publish, quote or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder

C. C. Pierce Collection, late 19th-early 20th century. Seaver Center for Western History Research, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Source: Los Angeles, Portrait of a City, edited by Jim Heimann (Koln : Taschen, 2009): Indicates b. 1853, d. 1956. "In his day perhaps the definitive Southern California photographer, C. C. Pierce was born in Massachusetts but came to Los Angeles in 1886 and documented the city until 1940... He also collected images taken by other photographers, building a collection of more than 13,000 negatives and 18,000 prints that now reside largely at the Huntington Museum in San Marino and the University of California, Los Angeles." Source: California History, San Francisco: California Historical Society, vol. LVII, Summer 1978, no. 2, pp. 186-194: Pierce was born in 1853 and moved to Los Angeles from Chicago in 1886 in search of good health. He lived until the age of 93 and died in 1946. Local directories cite him at work at 532 Downey Avenue in partnership with Albert W. Lohn. In 1890, he began to work for J.B. Blanchard at the Plaza Gallery not far from the plaza church. Shortly thereafter, he partnered with A.E. McConnell, at the same location, and their view and commercial photograph business became known as the Tourist View Depot. By the turn of the century, he started his own gallery at 313 So. Spring Street. Business grew and his shop was relocated to 1572 West Pico Street.

Photographs of Los Angeles and Southern California by prominent local photographer Charles C. Pierce. ca. 1900, undated.