Southern California Coastal Development and Shipbuilding During World War I, Long Beach Photograph Album, circa 1910s–1920s

Long Beach Photo Album

Archive

Photograph album, circa 1910s–1920s, documenting the development of Long Beach, California during the World War I period, with particular relevance to West Coast shipbuilding, coastal urban expansion, and everyday life in a rapidly growing port city. The album includes multiple images of cargo ships under construction in Long Beach shipyards and vessels assembled in the harbor, situating the material within the broader wartime and immediate postwar expansion of American maritime infrastructure. Additional photographs depict a 1919 parade featuring a marching band and large float, alongside views of the Long Beach Pier and nearby amusement attractions, providing visual evidence of civic celebration and leisure culture in a coastal environment shaped by tourism and industrial growth. Family-centered images of travel, beach recreation, and regional movement extend the scope to include patterns of mobility, domestic life, and landscape use in Southern California and the Desert Southwest during the early twentieth century.

Photograph album containing 195 photographs, including 189 silver gelatin prints and 6 real photo postcards, with images ranging in size from approximately 2 x 3 inches to 5 x 7 inches, mounted at the corners on album pages without annotation. Two of the postcards and two larger photographs bear titles in the negative. The images depict Long Beach and surrounding areas, including harbor scenes, railroad depots, street views, coastal landscapes, and scenes of sunbathing and recreation, alongside occasional travel imagery extending into the Desert Southwest. The visual content captures details of early twentieth-century dress, transportation, advertising signage, and the built maritime environment.

195 photographs mounted in an album measuring approximately 9 x 8 inches, bound in full leather covers with a sepia-toned photograph of a sailboat on the front. Light wear consistent with use; overall very good condition. A cohesive visual record of Southern California’s transformation into a प्रमुख maritime and recreational center during the World War I era.

Item #17670

Price: $650.00