Photo

Photo postcard views of the Grant Grove area in Kings Canyon National Park.

 General Grant Grove is located just outside of Tulare County (i.e. About one-third  of a mile north of the county line, in Fresno County).  Hume and the Converse Basin Grove are also located within Fresno County.  Grant Grove Village, the visitor's center and the Big Stump Grove are located within Tulare Co.

 

This was perhaps the most popular photo postcard image from Grant Grove, during this time period.   The "Dead Monarch" log is now usually referred to as the  Fallen Monarch.  The emblem on the car's door indicates that it is from the Alta District Lumber Company of Dinuba.   The photo is by Henry E. Roberts who ran his studio in the Grant Grove Village area from 1914 to 1935.

Close up:

The Hume area is east of Grant Grove. Most likely this photo was taken just outside of Tulare County.    Photo by Henry E. Roberts, circa 1917.    I like how Roberts let the image of the car "over the grade" continue onto the edge of the postcard.

Another photo postcard of the Fallen Monarch.    This card is post-marked February 22, 1909;  but the photograph must have been taken prior to mid November 1908 (e.g.  Nobody in this image is dressed for cold weather.)

A couple of close-ups:

The U.S. Army Cavalry administered Sequoia and General Grant national parks until 1914, so this could be one of the cavalrymen in the photo.  The woman in this image is wearing a military-styled belt with pistol.

 

The sign here states: "DON'T CUT BARK FROM TREES IN GRANT PARK".

(I like the self-assured expression on her face.)

(Added 10/1/17)  Tourists posing on the Fallen Monarch, circa 1891.    Photograph by C. C. Curtis of "Hanford - Cal.".

  (Added 10/1/17)  More tourists posing by the Fallen Monarch.    Photograph by C. C. Curtis.   Circa 1891.

Close up:

Photo postcard, post-marked Sanger CA, 1917.   The person who sent this card wrote that they thought that this was the Centennial Stump (in Grant Park).  But this doesn't look much like the present day Centennial Stump, which is much closer to the ground.  Possibly this could actually be in the Big Stump Grove or in Converse Basin.

Photo postcard of a man and woman with their little dog, post-marked 1918.   The photo is by Henry E. Roberts.   This could be in the Big Stump Grove or the Converse Basin Grove.   Roberts started taking photographs in the Converse Basin a decade prior to opening his studio in Grant Grove Village.      The remains of the lumberjacks' scaffolding, called springboards, is still present here.     Update 5/15/13:  After looking at some of Henry Roberts other photographs, I've come to the conclusion that this is one of his photos from the Converse Basin (Circa 1905).  This might be the stump of the General Noble Tree,  sometimes referred to as the Chicago Stump.   The woman in this image is Edna Roberts (Henry's wife) with her dog Pique.   I'm not sure who the man is in this photo.

Close-up:

The photographer's wife, Edna Roberts, with her dog Pique.



(Added 2/12/17)  Another Henry Roberts Photo postcard with Edna Roberts and her dog,  as well as the same man from the previous postcard image.    This man  may perhaps be the photographer's brother Vernon,  who was an employee of  the Sanger Lumber Company.    It's postmarked 1920,  but the image is from about 1905.   Ward Eldredge's book, Kings Canyon National Park, (2008) is the source of my information on Edna and her dog appearing in Henry Roberts photographs during this period.

(Added 10/12/14)  Another photo postcard of Edna Roberts by her photographer husband, Henry E. Roberts.   Notice Edna's little dog Pique  to the left.   This tree was in the Converse Basin.   The photo was taken sometime during Roberts 1904 & 1905 visits to the area.  The lumberjacks left this redwood as you see it here (with the undercut) for six weeks,  and during that time Roberts took photographs of hundreds of people posing in front of the tree.    I'm guessing this postcard was produced sometime around 1910-12, e.g. The style of the card appears older than most of those he produced after 1914, and this print isn't of the same quality/sharpness as his later photo postcards.

Photo postcard post-marked General Grant Park, 1917.   The photograph is probably by Henry E. Roberts (e.g. It looks like his style of script).    This is the stump of the Mark Twain Tree, cut down in 1891.    You can still see it in the Big Stump Basin.

 

 

(Added 3/14/24)  Photo by A.R. Moore,  from his Millwood studio, circa 1897.    This is a group of U.S. Army Cavalrymen posing on a redwood stump.    I believe that they are on the stump of the Mark Twain Tree.     The Mark Twain was probably one of the largest trees cut down in Tulare County.

 

(Added 10/2/17)  The Mark Twain Tree being cut down  in the Big Stump Basin.     Photo from 1891,  C. C. Curtis is the photographer.     It was cut down so that slices of its trunk could be sent to museums, in New York and London.

(Added 3/14/24)  Two more photos, by C.C. Curtis, of the Mark Twain Tree being cut down.

(Added 7/6/14)  Another Henry E. Roberts photo postcard.   Postmarked  6/21/1920.

(Added 12/26/14)  Another photo postcard by Henry Roberts,  circa 1914.    

This might possibly be Edna Roberts standing next to the Model T  Ford.

(Added 2/2/19)  Postcard image circa 1909.    They are posed in front of the Robert E. Lee Tree, in Grant Grove.

(Added 4/2/15) Photo postcard of the Twin Sisters sequoias in Grant Grove.  Circa 1922.   This photograph is also by Henry E. Roberts.

(Added 12/26/14)  Photograph by Henry E. Roberts.   On the back of this photo someone has written:  "Snow scene May 3,   Sawmill & camp.   Sanger Lumber Co.   Fresno Co.  Calif. "    At the front lower-left corner is written:  "Snow scene,  Converse Basin".      Most likely this photograph was taken during Roberts' visit to the area in 1904-05.    

(Added 7/23/13).        Snap-shot, circa 1915.   "Near Grant Park" is written on the back.

(Added 10/2/17)  Tourists in the Grant Grove area, circa 1891.    Photo by C. C. Curtis.

Close up:

 (Added 6/20/14)    Photo postcard of a  group of tourists posing on the Twin Sisters  sequoias, at Grant Grove.   Written at the bottom of this card:   "Grant Park,  my first visit  July 1911".   The photograph was probably taken by Carl Lembke, or by his brother Charles.   Carl was a professional photographer,  this image was from one of his personal scrap books.   Note the arrow someone has drawn-in at the left side of the photo, the man it is pointing to may be either Carl or Charles Lembke.

Close up:

A good example of Edwardian Period clothing,  e.g. The  woman 2nd from the right is wearing one of those extra-large hats, that were in style back then.      And there's a  U.S. Army Cavalry Corporal, seated to the left,  who's wearing his own hat in a rather campy fashion.

Here's another 1911 photo postcard from Carl Lembke's scrap book.   In this image,  some of the tourists from the previous photo are now posing on the General Grant Tree.

(Added 11/17/14)  Another photo postcard image of a group of tourist posing on the General Grant Tree,  circa 1912.

(Added 10/1/17)  Photograph of the Twin Sisters sequoias, circa 1896.

(Added 10/2/17)  Photograph of the General Grant Tree, circa 1896.

(Added 10/2/17)  Photograph of the Gen. Grant Tree, by C. C. Curtis.   Circa 1890.

(Added 4/2/15)  Photo postcard image of Grant Grove Village, circa 1917.    Henry Roberts the photographer.     This image is also in Ward Eldredge's book   Kings Canyon National Park, (2008).   Eldredge says about this image that the bark-sided structure in the middle is Ranger Milo Decker's house and in the left foreground is a lunch counter and ice cream stand.

 (Added 9/3/13)   A photo of the General Grant tree,  circa 1889.   Photograph by  C.C. Curtis.  The photographer's stamp indicates that Curtis' home-base at the time was Hanford (While Hanford was still in Tulare County).  I believe that this was after he closed his studio in Traver, CA.   Curtis might have been working with photographer  H.C. Tandy, during this period.

Charles C. Curtis is probably known best for his photos involving giant sequoias, they have become quite collectable in recent years.   Jackie Weiner's book about C. C. Curtis has helped to popularize these photographs.

(Added 10/20/13)  Another photograph by C.C. Curtis,  circa 1890. 

   Written on the back of this photo:  "Working up Redwood logs near Moore & Smith's  mills".   During the Mid 1880's,  Hiram C. Smith and A.D. Moore bought up a sizable amount of land around the Big Stump area, and formed The Kings River Lumber Company  at the logging town of Millwood.    Millwood was located about 1 to 2  miles west-northwest of the Big Stump Grove. 

Close-Up:

(Added 1/6/20)  Photo of a steam donkey engine and crew.    The photographer was C.C. Curtis, with his Hanford studio mark.   Circa 1891.    These engines pulled groups of logs along skids to the sawmills

(Added 3/4/17)   Photo by C. C. Curtis.   Circa 1891.     This appears to be an image of workers repairing a section of the Kings River Lumber Company's logging flume.    This flume carried cut lumber from Millwood (near Sequoia Lake) down to Sanger.    According to Hank Johnston's book They Felled The Redwoods, (1983), the flume was 54 miles long.   Its length was  later extended to over 60 miles, by the Hume-Bennett Lumber Company.

(Added 1/6/20)  Another image of the Kings River Lumber Company flume, by C.C. Curtis.   Circa 1891.    For part of its route, it paralleled the Kings River.      Along the flume there were 11 stations with herders whose job it was to prevent lumber jams and repair leaks.     The mill communicated with these stations via telephone (Note the line strung just above the flume).      The herder in this image is holding a picaroon, a tool they used to grab and separate the lumber.

Photo postcard by Henry E. Roberts.      The image is probably circa 1904.     This is the same logging flume as shown in the previous photographs.    Note the bundles of cut lumber being sent down to Sanger.

 (Added 12/26/14)   Photograph of the General Grant Tree,  Circa 1895.    Several of the men here appear to be U.S. Army cavalrymen.    The photographer is  "A. R. Moore" of  "Millwood, Cal.". 

(Added 12/26/14)     Photograph circa 1898.     At the bottom of this photo is printed:

 "A. R. MOORE,  Photographer,  Millwood,  Converse Basin and Kings River Canyon Views".    

Moore also had studios in Visalia and Porterville around this time.    

Some of the people in this image are standing where the redwood has been undercut by loggers.    It looks like the man at the lower left  corner is wearing some sort of badge,  and note the dog with a hat in its mouth.     On the back of the photo is written "L. O. Hoffmann".

(Added 7/20/18)  This is another photo from: "A. R. Moore, Photographer, Millwood, Converse Basin and Kings River Canyon Views".    Circa 1898.    The men are identified on the back as: Wallace,  Mann,  McComb and D. Wallace.

The 1896-98 voter registration for that area lists 181 registered voters in Millwood.   Among those names are:  Wilbur M. Wallace (Merchant, 27 yrs old),   John McComb (Lumberman, 37 yrs old)  and  DeWitt Clinton Wallace (Clerk, 27 years old).
Wilbur Wallace was also the postmaster for Millwood.

(Added 4/16/18) From the Millwood studio of A. R. Moore, circa 1894.      This is the only indoor studio photo, from Millwood, that I own.

(Added 1/6/20) Another photo by A. R. Moore's  Millwood studio, circa 1895.    This appears to be a women's art club or class.

(Added 3/14/24)  Photo by A. R. Moore, circa 1902.    I've seen old lithograph postcard versions of this same image.

(Added 3/14/24)  Printed at the bottom of the photograph:   "A.R. Moore, Photographer, Millwood, Converse Basin, and Kings River Canyon Views".   Image circa 1900.   Unfortunately, there are no names on the photo.

(Added 1/6/20)  Another one by A. R. Moore.   This time it's tourists posing in front of a cut sequoia.      I don't think I've seen any Moore logging photos earlier than 1893.

 (Added 4/2/15)  Another photograph from the same undercut redwood  that Edna Roberts  posed in front of (see the photo added to this section on 10/12/14).   In the Converse Basin, dated 1905.   Someone has written on the back of this photograph that the man to the left is their father, but there are no names.    The 2 pictures, just below, were purchased from the same seller, they stated that these three photos came from the same family.

 (Added 4/2/15)   Photograph dated 1905.    It's in the Converse Basin.    This image is also in Hank Johnston's book They Felled The Redwoods, (1983).    In the book the caption for this photo states:   "Bucking crew readies a giant redwood log for the chute.  A total of 25,000 board feet is marked on the log which would make it contain enough lumber to built a house!"

 (Added 4/2/15)    Dated 1905.   I would assume this is also in the Converse Basin.   Writing on the back of this photo states that their father was in this image, it's the same handwriting as on the photo above (the image of the two men on horseback in the undercut of the giant sequoia).    Someone has also written "Same tree" on this photograph and on the photo just above.

Note that one of the men in the foreground appears to be holding an early box camera with tripod.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

(Added 2/12/17) The images below are from a group of magic lantern glass slides, showing  the sawmill town of Millwood, circa 1892.

Close up:

 Close up:

  

 (Added 2/2/19)  Postcard image of the mill at Millwood.    It's postmarked 1908, though the image maybe a few years older than that.    I suspect that this mill was closed before 1908.

 (Added 2/2/19)   Photo postcard image from  the Millwood area.   Postmarked 1908.
This is an image of the rail-line that connected the Converse Basin with Millwood (A view from the Millwood side).       This is Hoist Ridge.     At the top of this ridge was a steam engine/cable system, which transported cut lumber 'up' out of the Converse Basin; then 'down' to Millwood.    At Millwood, the lumber was dried then sent down the water flume to Sanger.
Some of the material used to build the dam at Hume Lake was sent-up from Millwood via this hoist.

  (Added 2/2/19)  Postcard image of a group of tourists at the Boole Tree, circa 1907.

 (Added 2/2/19)  The same people as in the previous image, posed on a different side of the Boole Tree.