This 1940’s photograph shows El Capitan peak which is part of Yosemite National Park, California. From the vista point along the river on the South Road of the Valley, the impressive height (3,564 feet above the valley floor) of the world’s largest granite monolith is fully revealed in all its grandeur. El Capitan is composed […]
old postcards
Donner Lake California Vintage Postcard
Historic Postcard Written by Patty Reed? This postcard is dated June 14, 1910 showing Donner Lake near Truckee, California. If you look closely at the writing on the front you can see the words “Patty Reed” over the lake, “Mrs. Frank Lewis” above the shoreline, and to the right between the trees (from left to […]
Mount Shasta Vintage Postcard
Glowing in the last rays of a California sunset, the lofty summit of 14,162-foot Mt. Shasta is a beautiful and unforgettable sight. The original postcard is from 1939 and the picture was probably taken using one of the new Kodachrome cameras, giving vivid color to Mt. Shasta and the California rural landscape surrounding it. Mt. […]
State Capitol by Moonlight Vintage California Postcard
The original vintage postcard, from 1910, of the California State Capitol in Sacramento, California shows the capitol at night lit by moonlight. Reuben Clark, the architect of the California State Capitol, finalized his plans in 1856, but the construction of the building was delayed until March, 1960 due to disagreement among legislators over the exact […]
Sacramento Hall Of Records Vintage Postcard
This early postcard dated 1900 shows the Hall Of Records and the County Court House (formerly the state capitol building) of Sacramento, California as it looked in 1895. Sacramento History Online has this same postcard and a nice history of the buildings and the City of Sacramento written with it. This is a great view […]
Oakland California Vintage Postcard
This 1907 vintage postcard shows Broadway Street in Oakland, California. It’s a great view of the bustling city of Oakland, California in 1907 with mountains in the background and wide open California skyline above. Even this postcard gives the feeling that Oakland is a very modern city for its time. One can see a man […]
Cavalry Troop and Redwood Forest Vintage Postcard
The caption of the original vintage postcard says “Cavalry Troop compared with a fallen California Redwood Tree” showing the immense size of the Redwood trees in the California Redwood Forest. The Postage date is July 5, 1912, Watsonville, CA. As you can see in this postcard, a forest Redwood tree is enormous. Redwoods are evergreen […]
Long Beach Breakers Vintage Postcard
This 1910 card shows a painting of the breakers along the shore and a pier at Long Beach, California. Long Beach is one of the great shipping ports of California, full of ship yards and industry today, but look how beautiful it is at this point in time. The pier shown in this postcard later […]
Funny Arizona Desert Vintage Postcard
This very funny postcard from the 1930’s not only shows the beautiful mauves, purples, and orange colors of the desert, but also shows a tolerant donkey expressing his opinion of life in the desert carrying the mining supplies of his owner. The original card says: Q. Don’t your remember the desert, old pal The desert […]
Petrified Forest Arizona Vintage Postcard
This postcard, circa 1940, shows the Petrified Forest in Arizona, where are found vast deposits of petrified wood from the size of a marble to trees, more than two hundred feet in length. The forest comprises many thousands of acres all accessible from Holbrook, Arizona. Holbrook is located on the main line of the Santa […]