Banning Family Collection of Photographs, Part I, 1850-1979, bulk 1880s-1910s

Summary

Creators:

Banning family.

Abstract:

The Banning Family Collection of Photographs, Part I, contains photographs, glass plate negatives, and one scrapbook collected by the Banning Family of Southern California and depicting various family members, friends, and family properties (both residential and commercial), with an emphasis on Wilmington and Santa Catalina Island, California. Items date from 1855 to 1979 (bulk 1880s-1910s) and consist of 996 black-and-white photographs, 82 glass-plate negatives (5 x 7 inches and 5 x 8 inches), and 1 scrapbook. Of special significance are the Catalina photographs documenting the development of the island from a natural enclave with a few inhabitants to a thriving tourist resort. Photographers represented in the collection include G.O. Ayer; Joseph Brent Banning; Boye; Bradley and Rulofson; E.M. Brickey; Henry H. Buehman; Detroit Photographic Company; George N. Dewey; Ida M. Essery; Hervey Friend; William H. Godfrey; A.C. Golsh; Lola L. Huddleston; Truman W. Ingersoll; Charles Ironmonger; Keystone Photo Service; Theodore Marceau; Frank L. Park; J.R. Putnam; Putnam and Valentine; P.V. Reyes; Frank G. Schumacher; Silas Selleck; Stagg Photography; George Steckel; Noren F. Swenson; Isaiah W. Taber; Louis Thors; C.B. Waite; James D. Westervelt; and Charles A. Zimmerman.

Extent:

1078 photographs (including photographic prints and glass-plate negatives) and 1 scrapbook in 11 boxes (8.91 linear feet)

Language:

English.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Banning Family Collection of Photographs, Part I, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

The Banning Family Collection of Photographs, Part I, contains photographs, glass plate negatives, and one scrapbook collected by the Banning Family of Southern California and depicting various family members and friends and family properties (residential and commercial), with an emphasis on Wilmington and Santa Catalina Island, California. Items date from 1855 to 1979 (bulk 1880s-1910s) and consist of 996 black-and-white photographs, 82 glass-plate negatives (5 x 7 inches and 5 x 8 inches), and 1 scrapbook.

This finding aid describes the collection both as a box list and according to subject. The first section of the subject list contains portraits and snapshots of a number of Banning family members, including: Phineas Banning; "Captain" William Banning; Hancock Banning, Sr.; Joseph Brent Banning, Jr.; Katharine Mary Banning; Joseph Brent Banning, Sr.; William Phineas Banning; Hancock Banning, Jr.; Mrs. Anne (Hancock) Banning; William Lowber Banning; and Katharine Stewart Banning. The most numerous are those of "Captain" Banning and Hancock Banning, Sr. Among these are photographs of "Captain" Banning and his various carriages and stagecoaches (including his "six-in-hand" featured at La Fiesta de Los Angeles in 1895 and at Yosemite National Park, the "Captain" and Will Rogers atop a stagecoach, and the "Captain" and Philip K. Wrigley atop a stagecoach); and photographs of Hancock Banning at Bohemian Grove gatherings. Family portraits are followed by images of various Banning residences, with an emphasis on the house in Wilmington, California; and views of Wilmington and San Pedro, California, with many early views of these communities and many views of Banning properties.

Following the family images are views of Santa Catalina Island. These images document the development of the island from a natural enclave with few inhabitants to a thriving tourist resort. Included are views of Avalon, from its beginnings as a tent city to a fully developed tourist destination; the Isthmus; the fire at Avalon in 1915; Arch Rock and Sugar Loaf; roads and road construction at various sites on the island; El Descanso, the home of Hancock Banning and later the site of the Hotel St. Catherine (also depicted in this section); the incline cable car; Middle Ranch; rock quarries; stage roads and stagecoaches, including the Santa Catalina Island Stage Company; and various ships, steamers, and glass bottom boats.

The next section depicts Banning family friends. Depicted are members of the Vail family (including Walter Vail); the Patton family and their home, Lake Vineyard, in San Marino, California; the Ayer family; and a portrait of Howard Huntington and his family.

The final two sections described contain miscellaneous images: miscellaneous individuals (such as Christine Mueller, daughter of William Banning's shipbuilder, William Mueller, and Thaddeus Lowe in a Mount Lowe incline railway cable car); various ships and boats; and views of Long Beach.

Many photos have annotations (often anecdotal) by Hancock Banning, Jr., on the verso.

Photographers represented in the collection include G.O. Ayer, Boston; Joseph Brent Banning; Boye; Bradley and Rulofson; E.M. Brickey; Henry H. Buehman, Tucson; Detroit Photographic Company; George N. Dewey, Los Angeles; Ida M. Essery, St. Paul; Hervey Friend; William H. Godfrey; A.C. Golsh; Lola L. Huddleston; Truman W. Ingersoll, St. Paul; Charles Ironmonger; Keystone Photo Service; Theodore Marceau, San Francisco; Frank L. Park; J.R. Putnam; Putnam and Valentine; P.V. Reyes; Frank G. Schumacher; Silas Selleck, San Francisco; Stagg Photography; George Steckel; Noren F. Swenson; Isaiah W. Taber; Louis Thors, San Francisco; C.B. Waite; James D. Westervelt; Charles A. Zimmerman, St. Paul.

The collection also contains some ephemeral materials, primarily notes penned by Hancock Banning, Jr. These materials have been preservation photocopied, the copies inserted into the collection, and the originals filed in Box 8.

Biographical / historical:

The Banning Family played a pivotal role in the development of Southern California. Phineas Banning (1830-1885) immigrated to California from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1852, and soon became a partner in a freight and stage-line business that ran between San Pedro and Los Angeles. He founded the settlement of Wilmington near San Pedro, which served as the hub of the Banning Company. Banning’s many business interests included shipping, warehousing, real estate, and transportation services to Los Angeles and inland areas. The Banning Company continued under the direction of Phineas’s sons, William, Joseph Brent (J.B.), and Hancock, until the company dissolved in 1920.

The Banning Company purchased the majority interest in Santa Catalina Island in 1892 with the intention of developing the site as a resort. In partnership with Dr. Charles Frederick Holder, the family turned Catalina into a renowned fishing destination. The Bannings controlled Catalina Island until 1919 when they sold their controlling interest for $3.5 million dollars to chewing gum magnate William Wrigley.

Acquisition information:

The majority of the collection was donated by Mrs. Richard W. Call, September 26, 1982. Glass plate negatives were donated by Robert Banning and other family members, November 22, 1985 and December 5, 1985. Patton family photographs were donated by Robert Banning, Elizabeth Banning Ames, and Hancock Banning III, April 3, 1989.

The glass plate negatives were transferred from the Manuscripts Division, March 1986. Item numbers 253-640 were transferred from the Manuscripts Division, 1988.

Processing information:

The collection was arranged and numbered by Huntington Staff in the 1980s. In April 2007, Sue Luftschein completed the rehousing, performed preservation photocopying, and created this finding aid.

Arrangement:

The photographs were originally arranged and numbered in no apparent order. They have been arranged in this finding aid by subject to facilitate access. Subjects are: Banning family members; Banning family residences; views of Wilmington and San Pedro, California; views of Santa Catalina Island; friends of the Banning family; miscellaneous individuals; and miscellaneous images.

Physical / technical requirements:

Copy prints exist for the glass plate negatives. Arrangements for viewing negatives must be made with the Curator of Photographs.

Rules or conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Related resources

Related material:

• Interior and exterior views of the William Banning Residence on Hoover Street, Los Angeles (photCL 64)
• Banning Family Collection of Photographs, Part II (photCL 451)
• Patton Family Collection of Negatives and Photographs (photCL 282)
• Records of the Banning Company (mssBanning Company), Manuscripts Department.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Boats and boating--California--Santa Catalina Island--Photographs.
Breakwaters--Design and construction--California--San Pedro (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Photographs.
Children--Photographs.
Chinese--California--Wilmington (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Photographs.
Disasters--California--Avalon--Photographs.
Fires--California--Avalon--Photographs.
Fishing--California--Santa Catalina Island--Photographs.
Glass bottom boats--California--Santa Catalina Island--Photographs.
Golf courses--California--Santa Catalina Island--Photographs.
Harbors--California--San Pedro (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Photographs.
Harbors--California--Wilmington (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Photographs.
Mountain railroads--California--Santa Catalina Island--Photographs.
Passenger ships--California--Santa Catalina Island--Photographs.
Quarries and quarrying--California--Santa Catalina Island--Photographs.
Recreation--California--Santa Catalina Island--Photographs.
Roads--California--Santa Catalina Island--Photographs.
Roads--Design and construction--California--Santa Catalina Island--Photographs.
Ships--California--Photographs.
Shipyards--California--Wilmington (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Photographs.
Stagecoaches--California--Santa Catalina Island--Photographs.
Stagecoaches--California--Wilmington (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Photographs.
Storm surges--California--Avalon--Photographs.
Streets--California--Wilmington (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Photographs.
Warehouses--California--Wilmington (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Photographs.
Yachts--California--Santa Catalina Island--Photographs.
Cabinet photographs.
Clippings.
Cyanotypes.
Ephemera.
Negatives.
Notes.
Photographs.
Portraits.
Postcards.
Stereographs.

Restrictions:

Advance arrangements for viewing negatives must be made with the Curator of Photographs. The collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, please visit the Huntington's website: www.huntington.org.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Banning Family Collection of Photographs, Part I, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:

Huntington Library, Photo Archives Collections

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, CA 91108, US

Contact:

(626) 405-2129

reference@huntington.org

Website

Background

Note:

[Photo by Bradley and Rulofson.]

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Physical description:

[Carte-de-visite.]

Note:

[Photo by Silas Selleck, San Francisco.]

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["Captain" William Banning, Hancock Banning and others in costume.]

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Physical description:

[148: carte-de-visite.]

Note:

[Photos by Taber; Phelps, San Pedro; Stagg; Boye; Keystone.]

[Portraits; with stagecoaches.]

[Number 159 removed for conservation.]

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[Featuring "Captain" Banning's six-in-hand.]

[Photos by C.B. Waite; Schumacher.]

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[Includes views of Banning's six-in-hand on camping trips in Yosemite; images of Banning's various stagecoaches; Banning and Will Rogers on Banning's stagecoach at the Los Angeles County Fair; Banning and Tony Machado on a stagecoach on the Diamond Bar Ranch in Walnut, California; Banning and members of the Overland Stage Coach Club.]

[Includes clipping from Los Angeles Times about Banning and his stagecoach and letter from G.H. Banning about copies of a photograph of Banning's stagecoach.]

[Photos by Keystone; Huddleston.]

[Number 391 removed for conservation.]

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[Photos by Schumacher; Marceau, San Francisco.]

[Includes photographs of Banning in Bartlett Springs; the Bartlett Springs Hotel; Bohemian Grove gathering.]

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[Group portraits on steps of Banning residence, Wilmington, and on stagecoach.]

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[Joseph Brent Banning, Jr. and Katharine Mary Banning; Joseph Brent Banning, Sr., Joseph Brent Banning, Jr., and William Phineas Banning; Hancock Banning, Jr.; Mrs. Anne (Hancock) Banning; Hancock Banning, Sr.]

[Photos by Schumacher.]

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Physical description:

[Number 165: cyanotype.]

Note:

[William Lowber Banning; Katharine Stewart Banning; Mrs. William Lowber Banning; Lucy and Mary Banning.]

[Number 173 annotated on reverse by Phineas Banning.]

[Includes views of Conejo Ranch, Ventural County.]

[Photos by C. A. Zimmerman, St. Paul; Louis Thors, San Francisco; Golsh]

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Note:

[Joseph Brent Banning, Jr.; Nita Patton; Kathryn Banning Graves; Alice Morse Banning; Mrs. William Phineas Banning; Isabelle Lockwood; Lockwood family; "Blithewood," Asheville, North Carolina--home of Isabelle Lockwood.]

[Photos by Essery, St. Paul; Ingersoll, St. Paul; Lindsey's, Asheville.]

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Physical description:

[Copy prints from glass plate negatives.]

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[Most images taken on Catalina.]

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[Interior of "The Barn," William Banning's house at 31st and Hoover, Los Angeles; playacting a hold-up; the Barn, Wilmington.]

[Photos by Golsh.]

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[See also section on Santa Catalina Island for views of Banning residences there.]

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[Views of the house and grounds.]

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Physical description:

[Numbers 193-213: Copy prints from original photographs. Numbers 216-225: copy prints from glass plate negatives.]

Note:

[House and grounds; family members in and around grounds and gardens.]

[No numbers 214, 215.]

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Physical description:

[Copy prints from glass plate negatives.]

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[Santa Catalina Island Company warehouse in background.]

[Photo by Keystone Photo Service.]

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[Chinese laundry; Mr. Valentine, employee of Phineas Banning, on porch of unidentifed office; Canal Street wharf; San Pedro harbor.]

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[Banning industrial properties in Wilmington (quartermaster's barn, Freis and A Streets); Wilmington terminal of Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad; stores and machine shops; Canal Street; Main Street; portrait of George Joseph Smart, Banning Company accountant; first battleship through Panama Canal docked at foot of Avalon Boulevard; Episcopal Church; Mormon Island.]

[Photos by Godfrey; Joseph Brent Banning.]

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[Harbor; Timm's Landing; Deadman's Island and first breakwater; Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad locomotives and tug boat; Southern Pacific Railroad depot; breakwater construction.]

[Photos by Godfrey; Joseph Brent Banning.]

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[See also section on Banning family residences for additional Banning homes.]

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[Includes landscapes; Indian mortar holes; mountain incline railway; views of Avalon and the harbor; Hotel Metropole; yachts; Hotel St. Catherine; steamships; 1915 fire; Banning home, El Descanso; Little Harbor; Johnson's Landing; S.S. Avalon; Joseph Brent Banning memorial; the barracks at the Isthmus; the Isthmus, with photographs of potential development sites there; construction of infrastructure at the Isthmus; Camp Eagle Nest; Middle Ranch.]

[Photos by Swenson; Dewey; P.V. Reyes; Putnam and Valentine; Herve Friend; Putnam; Park and Company.]

[Numbers 36, 37 removed for conservation.]

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Physical description:

[Copy prints from glass plate negatives.]

Note:

[Photos by Joseph Brent Banning.]

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[Photos by P.V. Reyes; Swenson.]

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[Includes view of damage done by 1905 storm.]

[Photos by P.V. Reyes; Dewey, Los Angeles; E.M. Brickey.]

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[Photos by Swenson; Joseph Brent Banning; P.V. Reyes.]

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[Views of the house and grounds. Includes piece of stationery with "El Descanso/Avalon Santa Catalina Island" imprinted.]

[Photos by P.V. Reyes; Ironmonger.]

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[Views of the hotel and blasting for the roadway.]

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[Photos by Swenson.]

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[Photos by P.V. Reyes.]

[Numbers 542, 543, 546 missing as of April 2007.]

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[Photos by Swenson.]

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[Includes views of "Captain" Banning driving his stagecoach.]

[Photos by Detroit Photographic Company; Swenson; Ironmonger.]

[Number 575 removed for conservation.]

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Note:

[T.J. Green, proprietor and driver. Views of stagecoaches and the stage road.]

[Photos by Swenson; Detroit Photographic Company; C.B. Waite.]

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[Photos by E.M. Brickey]

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[No print for number 612.]

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[Unidentified individuals sailing, at picnics.]

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[Scrapbook containing copy prints of views of Catalina originally published by M. Rieder, including views of Avalon and Avalon Bay, El Descanso (home of Hancock Banning); various beaches and landscape scenes. The scrapbook also contains George S. Pattons, Jr.'s calling card; memo to the heirs of Mary Banning Norris in regards to the sale of Banning family property in Wilmington and a note in regards to the memo by Hancock Banning; and a press release from the Historic Lexington [Virginia] Foundation about the opening of the Jackson House.]

Background

Note:

[Walter Vail; Mrs. Walter Vail; Russell Vail; Walter Vail, Jr.; William Banning Vail; Mary Vail; Mahlon Vail; Margaret Vail.]

[Photos by Westervelt; Schumacher; H. Buehman, Tucson.]

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Note:

[Beatrice Ayer Patton; George S. Patton, Jr.; George S. Patton, III.]

[Photos by Lothrop and Cunningham, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.]

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Physical description:

[Copy prints from glass plate negatives.]

Note:

[Family groups at Lake Vineyard, Patton family estate in San Marino, California; Banning and Patton families on Catalina.]

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Note:

[George S. Patton, Sr.; Beatrice Banning Ayer Patton; Frederick Ayer; George S. Patton, Jr.; cadet barracks, Virginia Military Institute; Nita Patton; Mrs. Ayers (?).]

[Photos by Hemenway; Steckel.]

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Physical description:

[Copy prints from glass plate negatives.]

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Note:

[Photos by L.J. Mitchell.]

[Includes portraits of Susan Glassell Patton (Mrs. William Demoyne Wills) and William Demoyne Wills.]

[No numbers 269, 272-273.]

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[Views of the grounds and haying.]

[No number 659.]

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[Photo by Keystone Photo Service.]

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[Dora Jane Flood; William G. Halstead; Sacramento Relief Committee; unidentified baby.]

[Photo by Marceau, San Francisco.]

[Number 146.1 rehoused in Box 8.]

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[Includes photograph of the Mount Lowe incline railway cable car with Thaddeus Lowe, George S. Patton Sr., and George S. Patton, Jr.; George Lathrop; Sidney Wailes; Adelaide Brown; Mrs. Randolph Huntington Miner; Robert Ingraham; Fritz Demuler (?); N.W. Bell; Hobart Glassell Brown; Bill McCay.]

Background

Physical description:

[Number 181: stereograph.]

Note:

[The Companero, William Banning's yacht; sinking ships; steamship New York; sailing ships in Boston harbor; ship being built.]

[Photos by Scott; William B. Holmes, New York; G.O. Ayer, Boston.]

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Note:

[Long Beach Hotel; Wilmington-Long Beach Rapid Transit railroad car; Long Beach harbor.]

[Photos by Joseph Brent Banning.]

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Note:

[Photos by J.H. Easton; Joseph Brent Banning.]