JW Bledsoe, California Photographer

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

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Gerrard Country Club, Dec. 4 1925

scan636 Bledsoe Gerrard County Club Dec 4 1925

Gerrard County Club, Dec 4 1925, by J.W. Bledsoe. Identities of the individuals in the photo are unknown, as is the precise location of the Gerrard Country Club. Any additional information would be welcome.

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.

Golden Trout Lake


cropped-GoldenTroutAutoMerge1-1-qe15tg.jpg

Golden Trout Lake, near Piute Pass, taken by JW Bledsoe.  No date.  Notation on the back just says, “Near summit Piute Trail Golden Trout Lake  H-5.”

GoldenTrout100YrsLater (1)

Photograph of same location, approximately 100 years later, taken by James Delwiche.

 

Sequoiadendron giganteum in 1890

Men on Sequoiadendron

This is the Boole Tree in Converse Basin Grove, photographed in 1890. To my astonishment, the tree is still alive (in the photo it looks like they are preparing to cut it down). Image in the holdings of the San Joaquin Valley Library.

Panorama, San Francisco and the Great White Fleet, May 1908

Bledsoe's 1908 Photo of the Great White Fleet

Bledsoe’s panoramic photo of the Great White Fleet.

Bledsoe’s panoramic photo of the Great White Fleet, May 7, 1908 is in the holdings of the Library of Congress. It shows a panoramic view of San Francisco from Twin Peaks. The Presidio and Golden Gate (sans bridge) occupy the left background of the image. Golden Gate Park with its conservatory and the panhandle occupy the center left. Center foreground shows a water tank I used to walk by on my way to work at UCSF. Market street can be discerned to center right, angling toward Yerba Buena Island (again, sans bridge). Treasure Island has not yet been built. The reconstruction after the 1906 earthquake is evident, and Teddy Roosevelt’s “Great White Fleet” is visible in the Bay to the right.

Dated May 7, 1908

Photograph by J. W. Bledsoe.

In the holdings of the Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2007660691/

SFPan2004Feb26

Photograph of the same location, taken by Richard Delwiche 99 years later.

Yucca in Bloom

Yucca in b.loom

Yucca in Bloom

Yucca in bloom, by JW Bledsoe, year unknown, location unknown.

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