Watkins (Carleton E.) Mammoth Plate Photographs of California Missions, 1876-1884, 3 copies of daguerreotypes, 1850s

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Summary

Title:
Carleton E. Watkins mammoth plate photographs of California missions
Dates:
1876-1884, 3 copies of daguerreotypes, 1850s
Creators:
Watkins, Carleton E., 1829-1916
Abstract:
A collection of 37 mammoth plate photographs of Spanish missions in California by American photographer Carleton E. Watkins (1829-1916). The photographs are among the earliest made of the former mission buildings and grounds, which are seen in various states of ruin, 1876-1884. Sixteen missions are represented, and three photographs are copies of daguerreotypes made in the 1850s.
Extent:
21.86 Linear Feet (8 oversize boxes) and 37 Photographic Prints (mammoth plate, albumen; size of prints varies, approximately 39 x 54 cm. (15 1/4 x 21 1/4 in.))
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Carleton E. Watkins mammoth plate photographs of California missions, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains 37 mammoth plate, albumen photographs of Spanish missions in California by photographer Carleton E. Watkins. Most of the photographs were made approximately 1877, when Watkins made his first photography trip into Southern California on the newly-built railroad route from San Francisco. Traveling in a flat railcar with room for his photography wagon and equipment, Watkins then traversed extensively by horse and wagon from San Diego, systematically photographing most of the missions. One view was made later - Mission San Juan Bautista (item 23) - around 1884, as it shows a steeple that was added in restoration work completed that year. Three views in this set are mammoth-plate copies of original daguerreotypes made in the 1850s: Mission San Jose, Mission San Francisco de Asis, and Mission Santa Clara de Asis (items 31, 37, 38), depict the missions as they appeared in the 1850s.

Sixteen of the 21 California missions are represented in this collection. It is not known exactly why Watkins did not photograph all of the missions, though it is likely they were in such ruin there was little left to photograph. The photographs in this set were made at a time when the missions were in various states of decay and abandonment, just before serious preservation efforts began in the 1880s. The views include crumbling or discolored walls, various adobe structures, bell towers, cemeteries, fountains and other built details. The surrounding landscapes include footpaths, worn wagon roads, oak trees, palms, agricultural fields, and some houses. A bird's-eye-view of San Luis Obispo gives an overview of the town that developed near the former mission.

The prints are mounted on boards, accompanied by labels below the prints. Each label has a printed title, Watkins' negative number, "Watkins' New Series," and "26 New Montgomery Street, San Francisco."

Biographical / historical:

Carleton E. Watkins (1829-1916) was born in 1829 in Oneonta, New York. In 1851, he migrated to Sacramento, California in the company of businessman Collis P. Huntington and several other residents of Oneonta. He began his photographic career as an apprentice to established San Francisco Bay area studio photographers Robert H. Vance (1825–1876) and James May Ford (c. 1827–1877).

Watkins photographed Yosemite for the first time in 1861. His large-scale images inspired President Abraham Lincoln and the United States Congress to declare Yosemite the nation's first national preserve in 1864. By the end of the American Civil War, the photographer had become one of the medium's leading lights, winning prestigious commissions and international awards.

Over the course of his career, Watkins operated studios at various Montgomery Street addresses in San Francisco. Around 1869, he purchased Alfred A. Hart's stereographic negatives documenting the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad. Watkins subsequently published Hart's negatives under the series title: "Watkins Central Pacific Railroad."

Watkins suffered severe financial reverses in 1875, losing his negative inventory to competitor Isaiah H. Taber. From that point onward, Watkins published negatives under the "New Series" heading.

In 1879, Watkins married Frances Henrietta Snead. The couple had two children, Julia (1881–1977) and Collis (1883–1965). By the early 1890s, declining health forced Watkins to curtail his activities. He took his last major commission in 1894, photographing the Phoebe Apperson Hearst residence, Hacienda del Pozo de Verona, in Pleasanton, California. The earthquake and fire of 1906 destroyed Watkins' San Francisco studio and its contents. Shortly thereafter, he entered the Napa State Asylum for the Insane in Napa, California, where he died in 1916.

Acquisition information:
In library as of 1948.
Processing information:

Processed by Suzanne Oatey in October 2019. In August 2024, Mari Khasmanyan updated the finding aid and included links to digital reproductions of materials.

Arrangement:

Huntington Library staff assigned numbers to the photographs at an unknown time, mid-20th century, and the photographs are arranged in this sequence (1-38). Note that the number 32 was inadvertently skipped, and the numbering sequence goes from 1-31, then 33-38.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Bibliography:

Naef, Weston J. and Christine Hult-Lewis. Carleton Watkins: The Complete Mammoth Photographs (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2011). See esp. 313-15, "The California Missions Project" by Jennifer A. Watts.

Palmquist, Peter E. Carleton E. Watkins: Photographer of the American West (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1983)

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Suzanne Oatey
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-08-02 11:32:43 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

RESTRICTED. Due to the fragility of the prints, available only with curatorial approval. Requires extended retrieval and delivery time. Please view digital surrogates.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Carleton E. Watkins mammoth plate photographs of California missions, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2129
reference@huntington.org
Website