Description
Paintings and drawings are of the City of Riverside between 1895 and 1897. The collection documents businesses, hotels, stables,
blacksmith shops, and scenic views of Riverside and the surrounding area. The collection consists of 60 paintings, all of
which were created by Wallace J. Miller.
Background
Wallace J. Miller was born in Ohio circa October 1862, and died in Los Angeles (Calif.) on Dec. 23, 1921. In his mid-twenties,
he married Wilma B. Mayhew, and the two lived in Coronado (Calif.) with her parents because he wasn't able to financially
support their marriage. Then, in mid-1895, he was accused of counterfeiting money and it went to trial, but he was eventually
released as there wasn't enough evidence to support the allegations. Soon after the trial, he arrived in Riverside (Calif.)
where he stayed for approximately two years and painted advertisements for businesses on and around Main St. Prior to Miller's
return to San Diego in the fall of 1897, he donated the paintings to the Riverside Public Library.