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Placer Mining --Columbia,Tuolumne County - the hoisting wheel of the Daley Claim
LC-USZ62-27115

Lawrence & Houseworth Photographs

Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., 20540-4730

Collection digitized? Yes. The photographic prints have been digitized and are available in the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog. View a selection of images | View all the images | Search the images | View the images by geographic/subject category


Table of Contents

Background and Scope of the Collection

Summary

In 1859 photographic publishers Lawrence & Houseworth began selling stereographs from their San Francisco optical shop. They worked with local photographers to acquire a diverse collection of images documenting California's major settlements, boom towns, placer and hydraulic mining operations, shipping and transportation routes, and such points of scenic interest throughout northern California and western Nevada as the Yosemite Valley and Calaveras Redwoods. Their views also included an extensive pictorial survey of mid-nineteenth-century San Francisco.
The Mission Church at Santa Cruz
The Mission Church at Santa Cruz
LC-USZ62-27399

Mass produced and offered for sale at a relatively low cost, Lawrence & Houseworth's published stereographs became popular collectibles among the middle class. Today the images stand as important visual documents for the study of the West during the gold rush era, both in terms of quantity of photographs and variety of geographic areas included in their inventory.

In 1867 the Library acquired a set of more than 900 albumen silver half stereographs published by Lawrence & Houseworth and the third edition of Gems of California Scenery (1866), a catalog listing titles of all of the views published by the firm. This was one of the Library's earliest photographic acquisitions. The source of this acquisition is unknown. (Before 1870, when the Copyright Office became part of the Library, the Library's collections contained very few photographs.) The photographs date from 1862 to 1867.

The Lawrence & Houseworth Publishing Firm and California Photography

Section of the Original Big tree, near view, Mammoth Grove, Calaveras County
Section of the Original Big tree, near view, Mammoth Grove, Calaveras County
LC-USZ62-27063

George S. Lawrence (dates unknown) and Thomas Houseworth (1828-1915) sailed from New York City to San Francisco on April 4, 1849. They were headed for the California gold mines. For the next two years they worked as miners in Calaveras and Trinity Counties.

In 1851 Lawrence and Houseworth left the mines and settled in San Francisco where Lawrence sold jewelry. A short time later, he opened an optical shop opposite Portsmouth Plaza. In 1855 Houseworth joined the business. Many years later, Houseworth recalled that it was the first optical shop on the West Coast. Their advertisements promoted imported optical, mathematical and philosophical instruments, Joseph Rodgers & Son's cutlery, magic lanterns, billiard balls, and chalk.

In 1859 Lawrence & Houseworth added stereographs to their inventory. Their stock included images from around the world published by the London Stereoscopic Company, as well as a small group of views documenting Nevada and California. As a way to entice the public, the store displayed the stereographs in their windows.

Lawrence & Houseworth were not the first to promote California through photographs. A decade earlier, San Francisco and the California gold fields were extensively documented by the daguerreotype process. Of the many daguerreotypists working in the West, Robert H. Vance is best remembered for producing three-hundred unique daguerreotype views of San Francisco and the gold fields. In the 1850s these images were displayed in galleries in New York City and St. Louis, making realistic view of the West available to the American public. (Unfortunately Vance's daguerreotypes are no longer extant.)

Washoe Indians--The Chief's Family
Washoe Indians--The Chief's Family
LC-USZ62-26973

Capitalizing on the growing market for stereographs, in 1863 Lawrence & Houseworth decided to publish views under their name and made a concerted effort to acquire more photographs. They advertised their desire to purchase stereoscopic negatives of the Pacific Coast. Photographer Charles Leander Weed provided the company with three series of negatives: Sacramento during the Great Flood of 1862; Silver Region, Nevada Territory; and A Trip to Washoe. At this time, Lawrence & Houseworth also hired Weed to make photographs of Yosemite Valley, the trade routes east of Sacramento, and Native Americans in the Sierra foothills. Alfred A. Hart, the official photographer of the Central Pacific Railroad, may have supplied the firm with negatives of hydraulic mining operations in the Sierras.

Placer Mining at Volcano, Amador County
Placer Mining at Volcano, Amador County
LC-USZ62-27015

Lawrence & Houseworth's inventory grew and the firm soon offered the largest collection of stereographs on the Pacific Coast. Their inventory for California alone numbered more than one thousand different views. As might be expected, the company offered numerous views of California's largest cities, San Francisco and Sacramento. These photographs documented hotels, businesses, private residences, and street scenes, including views of San Francisco's Chinatown. In addition, the firm offered extensive documentation of the mining regions of California and Nevada. These boom towns had catchy names like Gold Hill, Dutch Flat, Timbuctoo, Drytown, Hope Valley, and Volcano.

Exterior of Lawrence and Houseworth's Store - 317 and 319 Montgomery Street, San Francisco
Exterior of Lawrence and Houseworth's Store - 317 and 319 Montgomery Street, San Francisco
LC-USZ62-27424

The demands of publishing stereographs required the prospering firm to move to larger quarters in order to accommodate darkroom and printing facilities. The firm's new offices were located on Montgomery Street in San Francisco's business district. In addition to stereographs, the company sold carte de visite portraits of famous personalities. Tourists and new residents of California purchased views of the West to show their friends and relatives back East.

The popularity of Lawrence & Houseworth's extensive photographic inventory was confirmed during the San Francisco Mechanics' Industrial Fair of 1865. A review in the Mining and Scientific Press stated: "Their stereoscopic views have occupied a prominent position in the Art Gallery, and have never, from the time they were first introduced, remained five minutes of time without being occupied by visitors."

George S. Lawrence retired from the business in 1868 and the firm was renamed Thomas Houseworth & Company. The company was always in need of new photographs to document the growth and change of the region. Charles Weed, who had previously made numerous photographs for the firm, had moved his studio to Hong Kong, so Houseworth commissioned the photographer Eadweard Muybridge to make a set of mammoth plate photographs of Yosemite. Meanwhile, another local firm, Bradley & Rulofson, also approached Muybridge about his Yosemite views. In the end, the views were published by Houseworth's competition. To make matters worse, the San Francisco press covered the squabble between Houseworth and Bradley & Rulofson. This publishing fiasco left Houseworth in debt and damaged his reputation.

J.F. Blondin
J.F. Blondin
LC-USZ62-103984

The 1870s saw a increase in the number of firms publishing stereographs. Even East Coast publishers offered views of Yosemite and other western locations and prices for stereographs plummeted. Houseworth cut back on the number of stereographs that he offered for sale. He took up photography, primarily working as a portrait photographer, as a way to gain a new audience. He photographed celebrities and promoted their portraits through an illustrated catalog.

In the late 1870s Houseworth's financial troubles escalated. For the next decade he continued to eke out a living as a photographer, but later worked as an accountant, a physical culture instructor, and an optometrist. Houseworth died on April 13, 1915, at the age of 86.


Arrangement and Access

The original Lawrence & Houseworth photographs were mounted onto bond paper by the Library of Congress. Many of them are faded. The original photographs are filed in LOT 3544, arranged by the number associated with them in the Gems of California Scenery catalog. A copy of the third edition of the catalog is also filed in the LOT. Earlier editions of this catalog are not available in the Library of Congress.

The Library made copy negatives and prints for all of the original photographs. The copy photographs are also housed in LOT 3544, organized into subdivisions by location and/or subject. The copy negatives have been digitized and those digital images, accompanied by brief catalog records, are available in the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog under the listing "Lawrence & Houseworth Collection." A list of the geographical/subject subdivisions, linked to the catalog records, is also available via the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog.


Obtaining Reproductions

Black-and-white negatives were made of the prints in the Lawrence & Houseworth Collection and those copy negatives were digitized. Users may download images themselves or can order copies through the Library of Congress Photoduplication Service.

The original prints in the Collection exhibit varying tonality. If the tonality of the original print is desired, a color photographic copy must be ordered through the Library of Congress Photoduplication Service. Use the LC-USZC... number listed in the Reproduction Number field in the catalog record (very few items have such numbers). If no LC-USZC... number is listed, the original item will need to be photographed; use the number listed in the Call Number field to request photography. Include a copy of the catalog record with the order to help staff locate the particular item in question.


Permissions and Credits

As a publicly supported institution the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Images in this collection are considered to be in the public domain. Credit Line: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Lawrence and Houseworth Collection, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USZ62-123456] . Full rights and restrictions information is available at: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/372_lawr.html.


Related Resources

In the Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

In addition to items acquired as part of the Lawrence & Houseworth Collection (LOT 3544), the Prints and Photographs Division holds items published by the firm acquired from other sources. These items are listed below.

Thomas Houseworth. Portrait of Jean Francois Gravelet Blondin, albumen silver print, October 10, 1876. Source unknown.
Call number: BIOG FILE - Blondin, Jean Francois Gravelet, 1824-1897
Reproduction number: LC-USZ62-103984
Note: Gravelet, known as Blondin, was the first tightrope walker to cross Niagara Falls.

Lawrence & Houseworth. 31. Old Spanish "Mission San José," Alameda County, albumen silver stereograph, 1866. Marian S. Carson Collection
Call number: LOT 13245, no. 1
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133177

Thomas Houseworth & Co. 504. Powell Street from the Lincoln House; San Francisco, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1872.
Call number: LOT 13245, no. 2
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133373

Thomas Houseworth & Co. 605. Group of Piute Indians, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1872.
Call number: LOT 13245, no. 3
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133372

Thomas Houseworth & Co. 645. "Nick of the Woods"–a Human Face in a Cedar Tree–Valley of Lake Tahoe (near view), albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1872.
Call number: LOT 13235, no. 1
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133172

Thomas Houseworth & Co. 875. The Sentinels; 315 feet high, 23 feet diameter; Mammoth Grove, Calaveras County , albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1872.
Call number: LOT 13235, no. 2
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133175

Thomas Houseworth & Co. 880. House over the Stump of the Original Big Tree, diameter 32 feet; Mammoth Grove, Calaveras County, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870. Marian S. Carson Collection
Call number: LOT 13245, no. 4
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133152

Thomas Houseworth & Co. 880. House over the Stump of the Original Big Tree, diameter 32 feet; Mammoth Grove, Calavaras County, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870.
Call number: LOT 13235, no. 3
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133174

Thomas Houseworth & Co. 899. The Keystone State–Big Tree Grove, Calavaras County, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870.
Call number: LOT 13235, no. 4
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133171

Thomas Houseworth & Co. 907. Abraham Lincoln, near view; 281 feet high, 44 feet circumference. Big Tree Grove, Calaveras Co., albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870. Marian S. Carson Collection
Call number: LOT 13245, no. 5
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133170

Thomas Houseworth & Co. 922. "Eagle Wing," albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1872.
Call number: LOT 13235, no. 5
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133173

Thomas Houseworth & Co. 1151. The Devil’s Office, Sonoma County, Cal., albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1872.
Call number: LOT 13235, no. 6
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133155

Thomas Houseworth & Co. 1198. Point Arena Lighthouse, Mendocino County, California, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870. Orlando M. Poe Collection
Call number: LOT 13468

Thomas Houseworth & Co. 1409. Broadway from the Railroad Station, looking North, Oakland, Alameda County, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870.
Call number: LOT 13235, no. 7
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133169

Thomas Houseworth & Co. 1519. Looking up Alameda Cañon, from the Bridge, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870.
Call number: LOT 13235, no. 8
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133178

Thomas Houseworth & Co. 1640. Nevada Fall, 700 feet high and Cap of Liberty, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1872.
Call number: LOT 13235, no. 9
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133176

Thomas Houseworth & Co. 1665. Clouds’ Rest, 6,450 feet high, from near the top of South Dome, looking east, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870. Marian S. Carson Collection
Call number: LOT 13245, no. 6
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133150

Thomas Houseworth & Co. 1745. Looking up the Grizzly Giant, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870.
Call number: LOT 13235, no. 10
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133153

Thomas Houseworth & Co. 1796. Mount St. Helena, from Mount Lincoln, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870.
Call number: LOT 13235, no. 11
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133148

Thomas Houseworth & Co. 1798. Mansion House and Swimming Bath, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870.
Call number: LOT 13235, no. 12
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133149

Lawrence & Houseworth published the images of numerous photographers. A list of photographers known to have worked for Lawrence & Houseworth, is available via the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog; the list includes notes about any Prints and Photographs Division's holdings by the photographer outside of the Lawrence & Houseworth Collection.

Related Collections Outside the Library of Congress

(NOTE: The Library of Congress does not maintain these Internet sites. Users should direct concerns about these links to their respective site administrators or webmasters.)

Bancroft Library
University of California
Berkeley, CA
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/

The collection contains more than 200 stereo views published by Lawrence & Houseworth, as well as cabinet card portraits by Thomas Houseworth.
The New York Public Library
New York, NY
http://www.nypl.org/
The New York Public Library's collection includes many stereos published by Lawrence & Houseworth. They also own a set of Charles Weed's mammoth plate photographs of Yosemite which were published by Lawrence & Houseworth.
The National Maritime Museum
San Francisco, CA
http://www.nps.gov/safr/local/mus.html
The Maritime Museum has a small collection of original glass plate stereo negatives published by Lawrence & Houseworth in the mid-1860s.
The Society of California Pioneers
San Francisco, CA
http://www.californiapioneers.org/
The Society's collection includes a unique three volume set of approximately 1500 views published by the San Francisco firm of Lawrence & Houseworth/Thomas Houseworth & Co. circa 1860-70. The half-stereographs in these albums may have been used as a salesman's catalog. The photographs document California and Nevada towns, industries, and landscape.

Selected Bibliography

Palmquist, Peter. Lawrence & Houseworth/Thomas Houseworth & Co.: A Unique View of the West 1860-1886, Columbus: National Stereoscopic Association, 1980.
Call number: HD9707.5 .S734T47 1980 [P&P]

This book provides the most complete information available on Lawrence & Houseworth. It contains many illustrations, including examples of the firm's work over time, advertisements, and exterior views of their studio. Includes a comprehensive list of stereoviews, cabinet cards of celebrities, and mammoth plate views of Yosemite and the Big Trees published by Lawrence & Houseworth.

Points of Interest: California Views 1860-1870: The Lawrence and Houseworth Albums, [Berkeley, CA]: Berkeley Hills Books; San Francisco: The Society of California Pioneers, 2002.
Call number: F867.5 .P65 2002 [P&P]

Illustrated with 181 reproductions of photographs from a set of three rare albums in the collection of The Society of California Pioneers. (The book accompanied an exhibition of the same title held at the Society in 2002.) Preeminent photographic historian Peter Palmquist's essay provides biographical information about Lawrence & Houseworth, as well as a brief history of the stereograph format, and discusses a few of the major stereograph photographers who worked in California.

Prepared by: Carol Johnson, Curator. Last updated: July 2003.

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  June 16, 2004
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