California Historical Society

Night View from Mt. Wilson, California Counties Photograph Collection

Contact Information

California Historical Society
Address
678 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94105
Hours
Contact
info@calhist.org
Alternate Contact
Website

California Historical Society

California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA. 94105

Access and Management

Access

Available to the public?
Yes
Available to outside researchers?
Yes
Reservations required?
Yes
Onsite technology available
No
Repository
Yes
Access procedures

The North Baker Research Library is available for in-person research by appointment only on Thursday and Friday afternoons. Please contact the reference desk at reference@calhist.org for more information or to schedule a visit. 

Management

Archive / Collection information

The California Historical Society collects materials of enduring historical and cultural value in support of its mission to inspire and empower Californians to make the past a meaningful part of their contemporary lives. In our North Baker Research Library, we hold some fifty thousand books and pamphlets, four thousand manuscript collections, half a million photographs, as well as ephemera, periodicals, posters, maps and more. For Los Angeles and the surrounding area we have nearly 23,000 photographs from the Title Insurance and Trust Company (TICOR) and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce (LAACC) housed and managed for CHS by the Regional History Center at the University of Southern California and viewable through the USC Digital Library (digitallibrary.usc.edu). Documenting development of the Los Angeles region from 1860 to 1960, the TICOR collection includes the work of many prominent local photographers, including C. C. Pierce. The LAACC collection includes promotional images in addition to depicting the growth of the city and the transportation system. Besides these two important collections and other photographs, Southern California is represented by printed books and pamphlets, maps, periodicals, and ephemera.