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Kennett, California Photograph
Album
MC321
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
University of California, Davis Library,
Dept. of Special Collections
Title: Kennett, California Photograph Album
Identifier/Call Number: MC321
Physical Description:
1
volume
Thirty original photographic prints, including
twenty-six silver gelatin prints measuring 6 x 8 inches, and
four sepia-toned prints measuring approximately 4.5 x 6.75
inches. Contemporary plain cardstock wrappers, oval opening cut
into front wrapper, with photograph mounted on
verso.
Date: circa 1910
Abstract: Photograph album
featuring images of the Mammoth Smelter and related scenes of the
Mammoth Mining Company from Kennett, California at the dawn of
the 20th century.
Physical Location: Researchers should
contact Archives and Special Collections to request collections,
as many are stored offsite.
Kennett, California was once an important copper mining town
near Redding and Shasta in the northern part of the state. It was
originally founded as a railroad depot along the California &
Oregon Railroad, a subsidiary of the Central Pacific, and the
town grew rapidly over the next thirty years, especially after
electricity came in 1905 and the Mammoth Copper Company built a
copper smelter in 1907. World War I brought Kennett to new
heights after a rise in metal prices brought on by the demand for
war materials. Success was ultimately short-lived, however, as
the town fell on hard times after the war; Kennett was doomed
after the Mammoth Mining Company closed in 1923. The Shasta Dam
project began in 1935, and by 1944, the town of Kennett was no
more.
Photographs featuring the Mammoth Smelter and related scenes
of the Mammoth Mining Company from Kennett, California at the
dawn of the 20th century. The scenes depicted here include the
Mammoth Company hospital, "Dumping slag" at the Mammoth smelter,
the slag pot and engine, the converters inside the smelter
complex, the company's power house, the tramway and substation,
the track system around the company's property, the top and
bottom of "Gravity Road," the employees' cottages and bunk houses
set into the hills above the smelter, cranes and trains working
around the smelter, including the "Bullion Train" and ore trains
transporting raw materials extracted from the mine. There are
also scenes showing men on the change floor of the smelter, on
the furnace floor, a yard crew standing around a train car, a
shot of about fifty men at the Mammoth Mine entrance, and a group
photograph of fifteen machinists. There are also a couple of
elevated views of Kennett itself, showing the breadth of the
town. The last four photographs differ from the majority of the
images here, and emanate from the Willotta Ranch in Suisun
Valley, California. All four photographs depict a man on a
motorized "spray outfit" in the process of fumigating an orchard.
A previous owner's signature on front cover of the album reads,
"George E. Laug Shasta, CA," who was possibly an officer of the
mining company depicted in the photographs.
[Description provided by William Reese Co.]
Collection is open for research.
Liz Phillips created this finding aid with information
supplied by William Reese Co.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from William Reese Co., 2021.
[Identification of item], Kennett, California Photograph
Album, MC321, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library,
University of California, Davis.
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 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.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Mines and mineral resources -- California
-- Shasta County
Mines and mineral resources -- Pictorial
works
Michael and Margaret B. Harrison
Western Research Center