JW Bledsoe, California Photographer

Late 19th and Early 20th Century Photography of the California Wilderness

Category: Buildings

Homestead Cabin

BledsoePhoto

A homestead cabin in a wooded area, possibly a lumber camp. Year unknown.

Photograph by J.W. Bledsoe when located in Traver, CA, which dates the photo to roughly ~1885-1888.

Eva Pursell Cabin, Lake Arrowhead.

Pursell Cabin.

Eva Pursell’s Cabin, Lake Arrowhead.

Eva Pursell’s cabin, Lake Arrowhead, CA. Year unknown. Shake siding, stone chimney, corrugated metal roof, timber porch, and a scrap wood fence. A mounted deer’s head, hammock, and a vase with flowers are visible on the front porch.  Horse manure in foreground, with what appear to be automobile tire tracks visible as well.

Photographer unknown. Eva was J.W. Bledsoe’s sister-in-law. It is likely the photo was taken by him, and he certainly knew the location.

Views of Independence, CA

Exterior view of the Nathan Rhine Store, Independence, CA. Ca. 1886/1887.

Exterior view of the Nathan Rhine Store, Independence, CA. Ca. 1886/1887.

View of a dirt street in Independence, CA, ca 1886/1887. The Nathan Rhine Store is to the right.

View of a dirt street in Independence, CA, ca 1886/1887. The Nathan Rhine Store is to the right.

Two views of Independence, CA, dating from when Bledsoe had a studio in Traver, CA. These are from the collection of the California Historical Society at USC. The Nathan Rhine store is to the right in the lower image. The notes in the USC database suggest that Nathan Rhine himself is in the upper image. I’m betting on the guy with his hands on his hips.

Images by J. W. Bledsoe.

Mission San Juan Capistrano 1915

Mission San Juan Capistrano, ca. 1915. Photograph by J.W. Bledsoe, from an 8x10 glass plate. scan637

Mission San Juan Capistrano, ca. 1915.

Mission San Juan Capistrano, ca. 1915. This is the very famous mission, founded by Juniper Serra (now a Catholic Saint). The mission is now a popular tourist destination, and has been extensively restored.

Bear in mind that this photograph was taken decades before the Zone System was formally described (Ansel Adams was 13 years old at the time). I wonder if Bledsoe had an Actinograph?

Photograph by J.W. Bledsoe

Image courtesy Jim Smart at CSUSB, from an 8×10 glass plate.

Downtown Los Angeles, March 10 1927

Los Angeles skyline, showing City Hall. March 10, 1927. Photograph by J.W. Bledsoe.

Los Angeles skyline, showing City Hall.
March 10, 1927. Photograph by J.W. Bledsoe.

Downtown Los Angeles, showing City Hall under construction, March 10, 1927.  View Northeast up South Hill Street, from around W 15th St. The Casa Loma Hotel is now called Casa Loma Apartments (hotel sign is still visible), and sits on the corner of W 14th St and S. Hill St. Google Maps

Photograph by J.W .Bledsoe.

Image courtesy Jim Smart at CSUSB, from an 8×10 negative.

Arrowhead Springs 1915

scan638 Lake Arrowhead Hotel Bledsoe 1915

 

Arrowhead Springs Hotel, 1915, by JW Bledsoe.  The “arrowhead” landslide for which the region is named is easily visible on the upper left side of the image. This is Arrowhead Springs Hotel #3, it was destroyed by wildfire in 1938 and replaced in 1939 (the 1939 version survives to the present, but is abandoned).

More information on the Hotel is here: https://www.ci.san-bernardino.ca.us/about/history/arrowhead_springs_hotels.asp

And here: http://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/hotels-arrowhead-112008

Image courtesy Jim Smart at CSUSB, from an 8×10 negative.

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