Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189 Public Domain. Release under the CC BY Attribution license--http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/--Credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library; From the California Historical Society Collection at the University of Southern California Send requests to address or e-mail given USC Libraries Special Collections specol@usc.edu
Description
Photograph of a birdseye view of the Stockton channel from the courthouse, ca.1905. The narrow waterway is at center and extends into the distance at center. It is bordered on both sides by a dense grouping of large buildings. A set of railroad tracks runs parallel to the channel at left. A large factory is visible on the left side of the channel in the distance. Several steamships are tied up along the sides of the waterway. The buildings on the right side are mixed in with many tress, making the right side look darker than the left. Legible signs include, from left to right, "Rouder's", "Monte Carlo Lodgings", "Jack Douglass", "Gallery", "I. Goodfriend", "Shaving 15¢ Baths 25¢", "El Dorado Market", "Fountain Lodging House", "Second Hand Goods", "Cash Bargain House", "What Cheer House", "General Arthur Cigars", "Stockton City Sperry Mills", "New Line San Francisco Steamers", "Pond's Extract Alleviates Pain For All", and "Stockton Poultry Market". This is a view of the Stockton Channel head, the birthplace of the City of Stockton, as seen from Court House. The channel connects to the San Joaquin River Delta and to the Pacific Coast thereby providing access to goods to and from San Francisco. This was the main route for mining supplies during the Gold Rush to the Southern Sierra Mines. Captain Charles M. Weber was the founder of Stockton locating on Weber Point, located on the right side of the photo, just behind the San Francisco Steam Lines building. At the head of the channel is the El Dorado Street bridge, built to provide access across the channel. The Weber Hole is beside the bridge and would become the site of the Hotel Stockton in 1910. This premier hotel still stands as one of Stockton's landmarks and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Sperry Flour Mills are in the left background with smoke rising from their stacks. The Flour Mills were nationally famous, producing a variety of cereal products and Sperry`s Drifted Snow Flour. The channel was served by both steamships and, later, rail transportation. Stockton was the convergence of three rail lines as well as river transportation. Weber Street runs along the side of the channel. This view to the West was taken from the dome atop the County Courthouse.
Type
image
Format
1 photograph : photonegative, b&w 21 x 26 cm. negatives (photographic) photographs
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