Boyle Photograph Collection - Finding Aid | Library Special Collections & Archives

The Boyle Photograph Collection consists of photographic negatives taken by Katie and William Boyle of the Trinidad, Moonstone, Crannell and Westhaven areas of Humboldt County, California from 1966 through the early 1990s. As a school teacher in Trinidad, Katie photographed local historical photo collections covering the area's history, including local Indians, whaling, lighthouse keepers, schools, lumbering and transportation. In addition, she photographed contemporary local events such as the Trinidad bicentennial celebration and the Clam Beach Run. Her husband Bill worked for Hammond Lumber Company in Crannell, later Georgia Pacific, and took many photos documenting logging operations and practices as they existed in the 1960s and 1970s. A unique feature of the collection is the multiple re-photographing of views previously recorded by other photographers since Katie was particularly interested in documenting landscape change over time.

Access

1,795 of the photographic negatives have been scanned and are available online. Copy prints of a majority of the collection are available at the Trinidad Museum Society.

Copyright

Copyright has not been assigned to Cal Poly Humboldt, except for that portion which is original photos by William and Katie Boyle. To obtain permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Special Collections Librarian.

Acquisition Information

The collection was gifted to the HSU Library by Katie Boyle, just prior to her death in 1999, as she had long planned.

Funding

This project was supported in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the State Librarian.

Biographical Information

Katie Boyle taught school in the lumber company town of Crannell the last year the school was open, 1948-49, and from then until her retirement in 1983 in Trinidad. One of her objectives as a teacher was to bring history alive for her students and instill in them an awareness of the local history of the Trinidad area. During the 1960s she and her husband Bill, who worked for Hammond Lumber Company and its successors in Crannell, took classes in photography and became accomplished amateur photographers. Their interests led them to document both the contemporary history of the area for over 20 years as well as to copy historical photograph collections belonging to many Trinidad area residents. She created many historical displays using these photographs for every imaginable event in the Trinidad area from the late 1960s through the 1980s.

Katie M. Williams was born on February 8, 1921 in Goliad, Texas. She attended Southwest Texas State College and George Pepperdine College before joining the war effort at Mare Island Navy Yard where she met and married William Boyle. They moved to Crannell where Bill worked for Hammond Lumber Company and Katie continued her education at Humboldt State, obtaining her BA in 1959 and her elementary education lifetime credential, a special education credential and a reading certificate - and continued taking classes into the 1980s. In 1999 Katie was one of four teachers honored by the Humboldt State University's Alumni Association at their annual Who's Who Awards. She died on December 18, 1999, preceded in death by her husband in 1994.

Scope and Content of the Collection

The Boyle Photograph Collection consists of photographic negatives taken by Katie and William Boyle of the Trinidad, Moonstone, Crannell and Westhaven areas of Humboldt County, California from 1966 through the early 1990s. During the 1960s she, a school teacher in Trinidad and her husband Bill, who worked for Hammond Lumber Company and its successors in Crannell, took classes in photography and became accomplished amateur photographers. Their interests led them to document both the contemporary history of the area for over 20 years as well as to copy historical photograph collections belonging to many Trinidad area residents. Thus the collection consists of two distinct groups of images: historical photographs copied from local, private collections with the understanding that they would be made available to the community, especially schools, for educational purposes, and original work by both Bill and Katie Boyle. The original work includes documenting contemporary events and practices and purposefully documenting sites/views in older photos to show “then and now.”

Katie created many historical displays using these photographs for every imaginable event in the Trinidad area from the late 1960s through the 1980s. She also worked very closely with the Trinidad Museum Society (TMS) where many of her photographs were developed into Museum exhibits. In 1989 TMS obtained a grant from the Humboldt Area Foundation for this purpose and Patti Spears prepared a major exhibit, working from prints developed by Bill. Katie also encouraged TMS volunteers, Ned Simmons and Elmer (“Lindy”) Linberg, beginning in 1992, to make copy prints for TMS of most of the negatives before the negatives were gifted to HSU.

Katie's interest in local history went beyond the photographs themselves. She recorded detailed descriptive information about both the collectors of the photographs as well as the subject matter of the photographs. She was also concerned about identifying specific photographers. Her numbering system provides significant information: the name of the collection and the date she (and/or Bill) took the photograph. Original photographs by Bill and Katie are designated as "BYB" and "BYK". Although a new HSU specific numbering system was imposed on the collection during processing (collection number is 1999.03), Katie’s numbering system has been maintained and is reflected in the names of the sub series.

Early on Katie determined that their growing collection of photograph negatives should ultimately be deposited at the Humboldt State University Library's Humboldt Room; this was accomplished in her last days in Fall 1999. Katie spent time organizing the collection over a long period of time, interrupted by events and illnesses, with a renewed push on it when she learned she was terminally ill. It seems that she devoted her last energies to ensuring that this part of her life’s work was set right and sent on to a permanent home.

Arrangement of the Collection

The Boyle Collection (approximately 3,300 negatives) is in three parts, reflecting the chronological arrangement as well as the level of descriptive information which Katie completed and compiled into handwritten notebooks, with the accompanying negatives. Within each part the images are grouped into sub series by the source, or the collector, of the photographs and a description of the collector or collection. The first part (951 negatives), covering work done from 1966-1969, includes a subject index in addition to lengthy descriptions of the source or collector. The second part (539 negatives), covering 1970-1972, does not include the subject index although the subject headings have been assigned as part of the descriptive notes. The third part (1807 negatives), covering 1973-1995, is the least well documented. It includes only Katie's "scribble": no subject headings had been assigned and the information about the collector was in many cases minimal or non-existent. The sub series (or collection) descriptions written by Katie are included verbatim; notes made during collection processing are in brackets: [/RK].

Since the person processing the collection, Rebekka Knierim, was quite familiar with the images in the Boyle Collection from her work first as an HSU student intern and then as a volunteer with the TMS, she was uniquely qualified to transfer Katie’s notebooks into the HSU Humboldt Room Photograph Collection database. During this time, she was also able to work very closely with TMS historian extraordinaire, Ned Simmons. She maintained a detailed processing log to document questions encountered and decisions made during the database entry, metadata enhancement and digitization selection phase of the project.

Digitization. Digitization was provided by Northern Micrographics to the specifications of the California Local History Digital Resources Project (LHDRP), a multi-year program supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian. Leveraging the infrastructure of the California Digital Library (CDL) in partnership with Califa and Infopeople, the LHDRP explores a model to aggregate, preserve, and provide permanent public access to local history materials maintained by California cultural heritage institutions via a single statewide online access point. For more information, see the LHDRP website. After the digitizing was completed, Rebekka Knierim correlated the images to the database, yielding 1,795 online images.

Container List

Series: Part 1 - 1966-1969

Sub series: 6601BA1-6604BA5 William C. Balke Collection (1999.03.0001-1999.03.0056)
The collector was born in Little River Valley and lived much of his life there. He attended the 1 room schools of the Valley. One was the Ocean and one near Bulwinkle. He and his wife live about a mile above the Valley in Dows Prairie. W.C. Balke worked for the logging companies and had a ranch. He is a descendant of Conrad Bulwinkle who homesteaded the Valley. John Bullwinkle (not related) sold his ranch in the upper valley to a logging company and the town of Bulwinkle (Crannell) began. [Her spelling Bullwinkle / RK]

Sub series: 6605CO1-6610-CO7 Kenneth (Ken) Cole Collection (1999.03.0057-1999.03.0112)
Ken came to Bulwinkle as a child with his parents Versal and Daisy Cole and family. His father worked for Little River Redwood Co. as Ken grew up. Kenneth went to work for the rival company, Hammond, across Little River to the north. Hammond had a "town" and roundhouse on their rail line about 5 miles from Bulwinkle in the woods. They had a school (one room, Little River District ) and community building as well as cookhouse and housing for families and single men. Camp 20, as it was called, was not first a temporary town, as most camps were in the woods. People either went to town on the work train on weekends, or had varied types of "speeders." It was closed in 1931 when Hammond Lumber Co. bought Bulwinkle (Crannell), closed the mill, and used the town for housing for woods employees until they sold to Georgia Pacific in about 1956. Town ended Oct. 1969.

Ken lived in both towns, and worked as an engineer until later in his life when railroad logging ended. The rail line to Samoa was taken by the highway about 1956.

Sub series: 6611T H1 Verne Thornton Collection (1999.03.0113-1999.03.0125)
Verne was a chopper (feller) who did contract work for lumber companies, including Hammond Lumber Co.

Sub series: 6612MR1-6613MR3 Charles Morton Collection (1999.03.0126-1999.03.0133)
Charles grew up and attended school in Trinidad. He worked in the woods. Some of his ancestors were native to this area, for at least seven generations from the Tsurai Village.

Sub series: 6614OM1-6614OM2 Wilma (Bishop) Omseth Collection (1999.03.0134-1999.03.0162)
Wilma was a child in Bulwinkle as her father was employed by Little River Redwood Company.

Sub series: 6617WE1 and 9501WM1-9503WM3 Mildred Webster Collection (1999.03.0163-1999.03.0169)
Mildred Webster lived in Trinidad for a number of years. Her husband at one time worked at the whaling station.

Sub series: 6618RA1 Ione Raymond Collection (1999.03.0170)
When I knew Ione, she had a weekend cabin on Edwards Street below us, and a love affair with Trinidad. She and her husband (then deceased) had enjoyed weekends at Trinidad for many years. She had many stories to tell, but only one old picture.

Sub series: 6619FOB1 Bud (E.A.) Forbes Collection
Bud spent some time at Trinidad during the WWII years in the Coast Guard. He and his family moved to Trinidad in 1953 and spent many active years here in business before retiring. He and his wife enjoy our area and are active in community life.

Sub series: 6620FU1 Charles Fulkerson Collection (1999.03.0171-1999.03.0173)
Charles Fulkerson spent some of his childhood in Crannell as his father, Thomas A. Fulkerson, a metal worker, was an employee of Little River Redwood Co. Charles later was an accomplished musician. He was at Humboldt State University several years. He achieved many honors in the music field.

Sub series: 6621SH1 Ben E. Shepherd Collection (1999.03.0174)
Ben E. Shepherd's family was Humboldt County pioneers. He had an interest in local history. In 1966 he assisted me in developing a filmstrip of Trinidad School history. We were both teachers there at the time. He copied this photo from an original tintype, and did the lab work for the print I copied.

Sub series: 6622HSU1 Humboldt State University Collection (1999.03.0175-1999.03.0185)
In 1966 I was taking a photo class at HSU, and as an assignment, decided to make a filmstrip (with a classmate, Ben E. Shepherd) of the history of Trinidad School. (We were both teachers there.)

The librarian of the Humboldt Room later told me that her horrified look when I found so few pictures there made her realize what was missing. I found a few originals in the two bottom drawers of a file cabinet. She did a wonderful job of starting to build a picture history at HSU. These are the negatives of the Trinidad area I found at that time. (I got hooked on seeing picture history, too!)

Sub series: 6623MO1-6623MO2 Thelma Moore Collection I (1999.03.0186-1999.03.0202)
Thelma Moore was the wife of Howard Moore. They lived in the Moonstone or Trinidad area from the 1940s to 1990. She is now (1992) in the McKinleyville area. They came from Red Bluff to Moonstone. Howard had visited here as a boy. They developed Moonstone Heights, including to Haven Way. This included streets and water system on left of main road. They had two sons, Dean and Jerry. Jerry stayed in Humboldt County and spent many years as a music teacher and musician. Thelma was also a teacher. She had a special interest in local history, especially Moonstone area. Thanks to Thelma, I copied two albums of the development of Moonstone Beach by Norman R. Smith (See also Lois Smith). These negatives are from Thelma's personal collection.

Sub series: 6624TO1 Agnes Tolley Collection (1999.03.0203-1999.03-0212)
Agnes was the wife of Clinton Tolley and lived in Crannell. They were neighbors of ours during the '40s and '50s.

Sub series: 6625BYWK1-6625BYWK5 William and Katie Boyle Copy Collection (1999.03.0213-1999.03.0252 in this collection)
William worked for Hammond Lumber Co. in the late 1930s and lived in the single men's lodge at Crannell. He married Katie M. Williams in 1942. They returned to Humboldt County in 1947 when the redwood strike was settled. Bill again worked for Hammond, and lived in the woods as a head loader. Katie attended Humboldt State College. She started teaching school in Crannell in 1949. In February 1950 the school moved to Trinidad.

Sub series: 6628BYK1-6632BYK5 1966 Katie Boyle Originals Collection (1999.03.0253-1999.03.0316 in this collection)
In 1966, when I started copying old photos for a school filmstrip, I also became aware of picture history and made a number of "record" shots. I used the school photos in the filmstrip of the history of the school. This was for a HSU photo class. Periodically, I continued to take shots from the same locations of early photographers.

Sub series: 6801BYK1-6802BYK3 and 6805BYK4 1968 Katie Boyle Originals Collection (1999.03.0317-1999.03.0346 and 1999.03.0383-1999.03.1389 in this collection)
[Katie continues with her "record" shots, her contribution to picture history. The first series is a demonstration of a drag saw cutting a redwood burl belonging to Bill Boyle. Next, she returns to Crannell to photograph the area in some of its last days before the town's end in 1969. The last series is of Trinidad Bay at low tide. / RK]

Sub series: 6803BYB1-6804BYB5 1968 Bill Boyle Originals Collection (1999.03.0347-1999.03.0382 in this collection)
During the late 1960s and early 1970s Bill carried an instantamatic [sic] camera in his lunch pail. When he had time and opportunity he photographed logging and nature of the area of Big Lagoon and areas toward Orick. A few times he had a good camera.

Sub series: 6901SM1-6906SM7 Lois Smith Collection (1999.03.0390-1999.03.0471)
Lois Smith was the daughter of Norman R. Smith who helped develop Moonstone Beach. This was 1915 and later. They came from Red Bluff and sold and built cabins for summer occupancy at Moonstone Beach. These photos from Lois Smith Albums. Norman R. Smith family included: Norman - (civil engineer); Mae, wife; son, Chester and daughter, Lois. Note that negative numbers not listed were not photos of things or places but information.

Sub series: 6907FOR1 Rueben Forbes Collection (1999.03.0472-199.03.0480)
Rueben and Irma Forbes lived north of Trinidad on Stagecoach Road for a number of years. One child, Barbara. Mr. Forbes was in real estate and investments. They collected old books. These photos were old A.W. Ericson prints.

Sub series: 6908BYK1-6912BYK6 1969 Katie Boyle Originals Collection (1999.03.0481-1999.03.0562 in this collection)
[For series 6908BYK Katie visited the Humboldt County Fair to photograph Native American demonstrations and crafts, and series 6909BYK consists of shots of an elk herd at Gold Bluff Beach / RK]

[Sub series] 6910BYK3 was a visit to Crannell the year, 1969, that ended the town. October 1969 the post office closed and the people moved away except for a watchman's trailer. About 20 years later the office building from Big Lagoon was moved back to Crannell as trucks moved through the area to fell second growth timber areas. The road through Crannell also led to a tree nursery at the site of a former woods town, Camp 20 of Hammond Lumber Company, located about five miles beyond Crannell up Little River.

[Sub series 6911BYK are more of Katies "record" shots of Trinidad / RK]

[Sub series] 6912BYK5. Activities at McKinleyville Airport the day of dedication Lady Bird Johnson Grove Redwood National Park Aug. 1969. I was on a flatted truck with Trinidad Bay Sweet Adelines entertaining the crowd waiting for the Airforce I, President's plane to arrive. Marine helicopters were standing by to take the Washington DC party to the grove near Orick. Other activities included a band, speakers.

Sub series: 6913BYB1-6916BYB6 1969 Bill Boyle Originals Collection (1999.03.0563-1999.03.0647 in this collection)
Bill Boyle was a logger and carried an Instamatic camera in his lunch pail sometimes on the job at Big Lagoon. The elk you see on roll one were wild and not in a park, but roamed about Big Lagoon on private property.

Series: Part 2 - 1970-1972

Sub series: 7001FSB1-7001FSB2 Susie Baker Fountain Collection (1999.03.0648-1999.03.0656)
Mrs. Fountain was married to a medical man [dentist/NS] and lived in Blue Lake. She had a keen interest in Humboldt County history and collected all kinds of information. She had a few pictures of this area and loaned them to me to copy before sending them to H.S.U.

Sub series: 7002BYK1-7004BYK3 1970 Katie Boyle Originals Collection (1999.03.0657-1999.03.0688 in this collection)
[For these series, Katie took more "record" shots, this time of Moonstone Beach to compare with the Lois Smith originals of 1914-1915, as well as more photos of the Little River and Crannell areas to compare with earlier photographs. / RK]

Sub series: 7005BYB1-7005BYB3 1970 Bill Boyle Originals Collection (1999.03.0689-1999.03.0714 in this collection)
[Bill Boyle brought his camera out into the Big Lagoon woods where he photographed the logging operations and general nature of the areas he worked in. / RK]

Sub series: 7101SU1-7109SU9 Gwyneth Susan Collection (1999.03.0715-1999.03.0806)
Mrs. Susan is the great-granddaughter of Mrs. Roseann Sangster who came to Trinidad in 1863 from Wisconsin. She owned and operated the Occidental Hotel on Golinda near Van Wycke St. She later married Watkins. Gwyneth (Lee) Susan lives about a mile up Stagecoach Road north of Trinidad. There are many early photos of Trinidad in her collection.

Sub series: 7110CA1-7112CA3 James F. "Jim" Cady Collection (1999.03.0807-1999.03.0820)
Jim Cady spent part of his childhood on Trinidad head, as his father was first an assistant and then lighthouse keeper there.

Sub series: 7113HME1-7115HME4 Milton and Edith Hunter Collection I (1999.03.0821-1999.03.0851 in this collection)
Milton and Edith married when they were past 50. They had been married before. They shared an unusual history as Edith (Kiler) was a descendant of the first lighthouse keeper of Trinidad, Jeremiah Kiler, and Milton was grandson of Frederick Harrington, the second lighthouse keeper at Trinidad. The son of Jeremiah Kiler was acting lighthouse keeper for a brief time in 1888 after his father's death. He then went to S.F. Bay area and was in the lighthouse and custom service several years. Frederick Kiler was in charge at Trinidad from June 30, 1888 to August 7, 1888. His father had served from 1871 to 1888. Frederick was born in 1850 and had assisted his father at the lighthouse. Frederick L. Harrington was lighthouse keeper from 1888 to 1916. Edward Wyberg served until 1925, followed by Malcolm Cady.

[7113HME2.17 is an obituary notice of Jeremiah Kiler's son, Frederick / RK]: "Jeremiah Kiler's son, Frederick, passed away at his home in Soquel, Santa Cruz Co. Monday, Oct. 18, 1915. "Born in Bennington, Vermont in 1850, was 65 years of age. "Well known in Bay cities having been identified with govt. lighthouse service for many years. He was in charge of Alcatraz Is., Rowe Is., was later stationed on Yerba Buena Is. "His father, the late Jeremiah Kiler, was keeper at Trinidad from 1871 to 1888. Before going to Soquel, F. Kiler was in customs service, S.F. (He assisted his father at Trinidad as a young man.)"

[7113HME3.31 is an obituary notice in the Blue Lake Advocate, July 18, 1925, of the assistant lighthouse keeper, Walter Potts / RK]: "Our little community was greatly shocked Friday morning to learn of the sudden death of Walter Potts, assistant lighthouse keeper. He was stricken during the night and died before...Dr. Caskey of Arcata could arrive... He was the son-in-law of Capt. Wiborg [Wyberg?] of Trinidad Lighthouse. He is survived by wife Ruth and 2 daughters, Thelma and Audrey. He was about 35 years of age and had been assistant lighthouse keeper 8 years."

Sub series: 7116BYB1-7117BYB2 1971 Bill Boyle Originals Collection (1999.03.0852-1999.03.0882 in this collection)
[Bill Boyle continues his "record" shots of the logging operations around Big Lagoon when he was an employee of Louisiana Pacific Corporation / RK]

Sub series: 7201SP1-7207SP7 Alice Spinas Collection (1999.03.0883-1999.03.0964)
John and Alice Spinas lived up Stagecoach Road about 3/4 mile when I copied these pictures. At the time I had the pleasure of making color slides of her basket collection in my position as consultant to Joy Sundberg of the NICE program. This program's purpose was to develop educational materials of the Indians of Northwestern California. Five tribes were involved. Alice had been here prior to 1921 and had a keen interest in Indian people. She had an extensive collection of artifacts and also a photo album. She was not Indian. As she wanted her collection to stay in the area, she sold it to College of the Redwoods. The numbers 7201 to 7207 were from her photo albums. 7210 to 7213 were black and whites I took when making the color slide shots of artifacts in 1972. KB.

Sub series: 7208LN1-7209LN9 George Lennon Collection (1999.03.0965-1999.03.0987)
George Lennon worked in the woods in his earlier years as a high climber. He climbed, limbed, and topped trees that were to be used as spar poles. Rigging was fastened in the top, and often part way down for bringing in logs and loading on a truck or railroad car. He worked for different lumber companies, including Hammond, later had his own for a while. He knew Bill Boyle as a young man, and shared his pictures with him one day after they were both over 60. He allowed me to copy them.

Historical Notes: Railroad Logging
Note in Index as at end of 7204-before 7210

Sub series: 7210BYK1-7213BYK4 1972 Katie Boyle Collection (1999.03.0988-1999.03.1032 in this collection)
[Alice Spinas Artifacts for Northwestern Indian Cultures Education]

In 1972 I had the opportunity to act as a photographic consultant to Joy Sundberg in the Northwestern Indian Cultures Education project. Five tribes were a part of developing educational "NICE" materials about the native cultures of our area. My role involved three collectors of artifacts. Alice Spinas was our first source attempt to develop materials that could be used. We did color slide and black and white photography. In addition to helping with set ups, I was allowed to make pictures with my camera. I took shots for the owners as well as 3 or 4 shots as backup and for myself. Numerous (of my) shots were later used. I had two cameras loaded - one with color slide and another with black and white. The color slides were sometimes used in film strips for schools. Some were used as color slides.

Series: Part 3 - 1973-1995

Sub series: 7214BYK5 - 7217BYK8 1972 Katie Boyle Originals Collection (1999.03.1033-1999.03.1081 in this collection)
[Sub series 7214BYK5 are photographs of Joy Sundberg's Collection of Native American Artifacts. Series 7215BYK6-7216BYK8 are of the Natt Collection of Native American Artifacts (also Joy Sundberg). These may have been part of the Northwestern Indian Cultures Education Project for which Katie Boyle was a photographer. As is typical of many of the series in Part Three, these were digitized somewhat selectively. / RK]

Sub series: 7218BYB1 - 7220BYB1 1972 Bill Boyle Originals Collection (1999.03.1082-1999.03.1092 in this collection)
[The images in 7218BYB1-7219BYB1 are of the annual Clam Beach Run to Trinidad, 1972, of which we used four images. 7220BYB1 are more "record" shots taken by Bill of Georgia Pacific / Louisiana Pacific logging operations / RK]

Sub series: 7301MY1 Henry Myers Collection (1999.03.1093-1999.03.1098)
[Henry Myers was a contemporary of George Lennon (see 7208LN1-7209LN2) and they had several of the same photographs. These are of logging for Hammond Lumber Co. and Georgia Pacific during the late 1930s until the 1960s]

Sub series: 7302BYK2 1973 Katie Boyle Originals Collection
[None of these photos have been included in our digitization project, as they are mostly of Yurok basket hats that have already been included in books such as Her Mind Made Up by Ron Johnson, as well as other projects and published inventories. They are largely from the collection of Joy Sundberg / RK.]

Sub series: 7303KM1-7305KM3 Mayme Kaparisis Collection (1999.03.1099-1999.03.1124)
[This collection consists of the relatives of Mayme Kaparisis, both Yurok and Tolowa, mostly from the 1920s-1960s. Many of the negatives have biographical information that we included in the data entries. / RK]

Sub series: 7306BYK2 1973 Katie Boyle Originals Collection (1999.03.1125-1999.03.1140 in this collection)
[Katie Boyle took photographs of Mayme Kaparisis's collection of Native American items, mostly baskets, and included some photographs of Mayme and her daughter, with her granddaughter posing in regalia. / RK]

Sub series: 7307SA1 Glenn and Janice Saunders Collection (1999.03.1141-1999.03.1149)
[Glenn Saunder's father, Mose, was originally from Stockton, CA. He met Glenn Chaffey in World War I, where Glenn was killed and Mose lost a leg. After the war, Mose Saunders traveled up to Trinidad to give condolences to Glenn Chaffey's family. He met and later married Glenn Chaffey's sister, and they named their son after his late uncle. Glenn Saunders still lives in Trinidad. The family business included Saunder's Store, which is now Murphy's, on Main Street in Trinidad. / NS]

Sub series: 7308BYWK1 Katie and Bill Boyle Collection
[These are photos of the Trinidad school building and students between 1950 and 1970]

Sub series: 7501BYK1 - 7504BYK4 1975 Katie Boyle Originals Collection (1999.03.1150-1999.03.1180 in this collection)
[Sub series: 7501BYK1 records the reenactment of the landing of the first Spanish ship in Trinidad Bay during the celebration of Trinidad's Bicentennial in 1975. 7502BYK2 and 7503BYK3 are more "record shots" of Trinidad town views to compare with older photos. Katie supplies no notes for this series, but occasionally we use her "titles" from her "I.D. tags" in the negatives. Otherwise, we have included our own titles. / RK]

7504BYK4 - Scenic Trinidad Area. Taken for comparison with old photos. Taken from where early photographers took shots. [Again, Katie supplied no notes, nor did she have any "I.D. tags," so all the titles were given by us. / RK]

Sub series: 7601BYB1 - 7601BYB2 1976 Bill Boyle Originals Collection (1999.03.1181-1999.03.1192 in this collection)
[These are contemporary "record" photos of the Trinidad Dock area. / RK]

Sub series: 7801WA1 - 7802WA2 Mary Walch Collection (1999.03.1193-1999.03.1216)
[The vast majority of these photographs are of class pictures from Crannell School in the 1930s and early 1940s. Most of these photos have a list of names included in the negatives, but many are difficult to read. Some of the wording is very faded, and some of the photos of the labels cut off some of the names. Mary Walch's husband Wes Walch, Sr. worked for Hammond Lumber Co. / RK]

Sub series: 7901BYK1-7902BYK2 1979 Katie Boyle Originals (1999.03.1217-1999.03.1230 in this collection)
Trinidad views to compare with old photos

Sub series: 8001BYK1 - 8005BYK6 1980 Katie Boyle and Bill Boyle Originals (1999.03.1231-1999.03.1265 in this collection)
[Sub series: 8001BYK1:] Big Lagoon logging town. This town included housing for key personnel, mechanics shop, dining hall for cabins of single men, gate to woods operation, office and various other buildings. Later, water and sewage were supplied for mobile homes of workers. Children attended school across the lagoon to the south near Big Lagoon at Big Lagoon Union Elementary School. This Union District was made of the former Stone Lagoon District to the north and Patrick's Point District to the south.

Mail was delivered to the office and people had mail boxes on porch at office or general delivery inside the office. The mail was a Trinidad Route. Today, 1994, there are rural boxes grouped near the town as the office was moved to Crannell, CA in 1986 and many unused buildings razed. They still have the dining hall as a community center. The shop building used as the saw mill is still operating. Instead of just a salvage mill, it is also used for second growth timber.

8002BYK2: Trinidad Bay as a harbor of refuge when we had a Pacific Fishing Fleet. 8003BYK3: Old Patrick's Point School [also shots of Trinidad which were not digitized / RK]. 8004BYB4: [Town of Trinidad. Not digitized for redundancy. / RK]. 8005BYK5-8005BYK6: [A visit by Bill and Katie Boyle to the Fort Humboldt Logging Museum / RK]

Sub series: 8101BYK1-8102BYK2 1981 Katie Boyle Originals (1999.03.1266-1999.03.1279 in this collection)
8101BYK1 [Native American Basketry] Artifacts of Vera Weatherford Brown. 8102BYK2: City Monument Unveiling Photos. [The fraternal organization E Clampus Vitus from Eureka dedicated a "Town of Trinidad" monument on June 7th, 1981. / RK]

Sub series: 8201FOJ1-8204FOJ5 Jean Forbes Collection (1999.03.1280-1999.03.1343)
[This collection consists mostly of old postcards and photos of coastal views from Clam Beach to Freshwater Lagoon and the town of Trinidad. It also includes several postcards of local hotels and cabins, as well as many images of the Clam Beach community before it was razed to construct the Highway 101 freeway. / RK]

Sub series: 8205BYK1 Katie Boyle Postcard Collection (1999.03.1344-1999.03.1345)
[Most of these postcards are already included elsewhere in the Boyle collection, namely the Thelma Moore series. Two of these: the Crannell log pond and the ox team on a skid road, are not found elsewhere and will be digitized. / RK]

Sub series: 8206BYK2 - 8208BYK7 1982 Katie Boyle Originals (1999.03.1346-1999.03.1362 in this collection)
[Sub series: 8206BYK2:] Trinidad Panorama to compare with 1851 Bruff Drawing. [Katie discovered that J. Goldsborough Bruff likely used the Bruno Groth House area of Scenic Drive, Trinidad (site of birthplace of Axel Lindgren, Sr.) as the vantage point for his 1851 drawing. By lining up and overlapping all seven photos, the panorama is a recreation of this drawing. / RK]

8207BYK3: Mamie Parton Collection [of Native American baskets]. 8207BYK4 & 5: [not digitized (house under construction, parking lot of semi trucks and scrap wood burner, all without context and unidentified). / RK] 8208BYK7: 1982 views of Clam Beach to compare with old photos [mainly photographs of the section of Highway 101 which used to be the community of Clam Beach / RK]

Sub series: 8301LA1 1983 Axel Lindgren Family Collection I (1999.03.1363-1999.03.1374 in this collection)
[This collection is composed mainly of images of Axel Lindgren, Sr. and his relatives, from the early 1900s to 1970. Axel Lindgren, Sr. is the son of Eliza Lindgren of Tsurai and Charles Lindgren of Sweden. He was born in the Groth Ln. area of Scenic Dr. in Trinidad. He married Georgia Billie of Weitchpec and had eleven children. His two surviving children, Wilda and Roberta (Allie) Lindgren, have given additional information for this collection and others for this digitization project. / RK]

Sub series: 8401SO1 Frank Sobol Collection (1999.03.1375-1999.03-1377)
[This sub series contains two images relating to Hammond Lumber Company Camps 21 and 35 around 1920, and a 1926 Trinidad class photo. Information about Frank Sobol was not recorded by Katie. / RK]

Sub series: 8402BYB1-8403BYB2 1984 Bill Boyle Originals (1999.03.1378-1999.03.1386 in this collection)
Georgia Pacific Corporation, Big Lagoon Operation, late 1960s. Copied from color slides by Bill Boyle. Many of these photos taken at reload on F Line.

Sub series: 8405BYK1 1984 Katie Boyle Originals (1999.03.1387-1999.03.1395 in this collection)
[These images are of artifacts taken from Tsurai from the 1949 excavation. They currently belong to Charlotte Peterson and are on loan to the Trinidad Museum / NS].

Sub series: 8501PB1 Bruce Pettit Collection (1999.03.1396-1999.03.1398)
[There are three photos of Trinidad in this collection, all before 1950, including a coastal view from Houda's Point, an aerial shot taken by Art Ray, and a rare photo of Trinidad Head on fire in 1943 by C.J. Celay / RK]

Sub series: 8502LA1 1985 Axel Lindgren Family Collection II (1999.03.1399-1999.03.1410 in this collection)
[Unlike the first collection, these photos are mostly of the maternal side of Axel Lindgren, Jr.'s family. Axel Jr.'s mother,Georgia Billie, was the wife of Axel Lindgren, Sr., and the daughter of Minnie Shaffer (a half-sister of Robert and Alice Spott). Georgia attended a government boarding school in Hoopa, and she and Axel had eleven children. These photographs include many photos of food preparation, including drying seaweed and cooking eel. / RK]

Sub series: 8503TN1 Candina Tonini Collection (1999.03.1411-1999.03.1414)
Collection of Candina Tonini. Orleans, Weitchpec, Morek. 1897-1940 era. [Candina Tonini lived in Martin's Ferry, and these photos appear to be from her personal album from there. / RK]

Sub series: 8504BYK1 1985 Katie Boyle Originals Collection (1999.03.1415-1999.03.1421in this collection)
[All of these photos are of Native American baskets owned by Candina Tonini. / RK]

Sub series: 8505AB1-8507AB4 Arthur Abbott Collection (1999.03.1422-1999.03.1464)
[The majority of these images appear to be originals, though it is unknown by whom as Arthur Abbott himself would not have been born when these photos were taken. Most of these images are of Little River Redwood Company in Bulwinkle in the early 1900s and/or Luffenholtz mill, including many photos of the railroads and early logging equipment in the woods. The images of Luffenholtz were taken before the fire of 1908. / RK]

Sub series: 8508JA1 Sybil Jamison Collection (1999.03.1465-1999.03.1471)
[Many images of the railroad in Trinidad and Fieldbrook before 1926 / RK]

Sub series: 8509ME1-8509ME2 Sam Merryman, Sr. (1999.03.1472-1999.03.1499)
[Sam Merryman, Sr. was a business owner and early inhabitant of Moonstone Beach. His daughter, Carolyn (Merryman) Eisner, was able to contribute greatly to this series. She is also the person who, with Katie Boyle, wrote down information about most of the other collections on the backs of Trinidad Museum Society prints, particularly in Parts One and Two. Carolyn remembers her father driving children to school at Crannell, and as the student population grew, he ended up buying a bus to transport the children until the school district bought the bus from him. These photos were taken before 1936. / RK]

Sub series: 8510LE1.10 Eldon Lewis Collection (1999.03.1500)
[These are two photos of Camp 21 / RK]

Sub series: 8511BYK1 Splitting Shingle Bolts Demo (1999.03.1501-1999.03.1503)

Sub series: 8512BAB1-8516BAB5 William E. Baker Collection I (1999.03.1504-1999.03.1602)
W.E. Baker was the son of Brick Baker, former superintendent of Hammond and Little River Redwood Companies, logging Crannell north. [These photos were taken mostly during the 1930s at Hammond Lumber Co. Camps 20 and 41. They include many photos of "moving day" at Camp 20. In 1931, the residents of this permanent logging camp had to relocate to Crannell after Hammond Lumber Co. bought the town from Little River Redwood Co. and shut down Camp 20. / RK]

Sub series: 8517DO1 and 8601DO1 Victor Dobrec Collection (1999.03.1603-1999.03.1612 and 1999.03.1667-1999.03.1676 in this collection)
[Sub series 8517DO1 is a small collection of logging photos in the woods and Trinidad school class pictures from the late 1930s and early 1940s. Sub series 8601DO1 is made up of photos of logging operations and crew in the Korbel/Blue Lake area that may have been taken during the 1930s or early '40s/ RK]

Sub series: 8518HY1-8520HY3 Tony Hyatt and Hammond "Redwood Log" Collection (1999.03.1613-1999.03.1666; for 1667-1676 see Dobrec)
Images all before 1956. Tony Hyatt's father was Waldron Hyatt, woods boss for Hammond Lumber Co. These pics are a combination of family and Hammond Lumber Co. pics for newsletter during years Hyatt was woods superintendent. [The photographs Katie Boyle took from the Redwood Log were not included in the digitization project / RK]

Sub series: 8602TR1 Jack Trego Collection I (1999.03.1677)
[This is one image of the crew of B & L Railroad. There is no contextual information, nor any date. / RK]

Sub series: 8603HR1 Ralph Hunter Collection (1999.03.1678-1999.03.1680)
[This sub series consists of three photographs of the Trinidad Whaling Station and its crew from 1924 / RK]

Sub series: 8604FR1 Margaret (Ruth) Freeman Collection I (1999.03.1681)
[This sub series contains only one image, of the Big Four restaurant from the 1920s on the corner of Main and Scenic Dr. / RK] This restaurant and bar was made from the Good Temperance Hall, moved from its location of Hector and Edwards Streets. The Good Templars was an organization that "fought the demon rum."

Sub series: 8601BYK1-8714BYK14 1986-1987 Katie Boyle Collection (1999.03.1682-1999.03.1710 in this collection)
[This sub series contains about 500 negatives composed of black and white copies of color slides covering the period between ca 1950-1975. Many of these are of Native American dance, ceremony, demonstrations and artifacts. Most of these photos are found elsewhere in the Katie Boyle Collection. Only 28 of these were chosen to be digitized due to redundancy or lack of context or any identifiers. 8 of these were taken by Thelma Moore in 1951 of Katie Boyle, Maggie Pilgrim, Eileen Figueroa and others during a day of surf fishing at Luffenholtz Beach. / RK]

Sub series: 8801LG1
[These few photos of pictures from a Brizzard book and a Native American structure were not included for this digitization project due to lack of context. / RK]

Sub series: 8901BAB1 William E. Baker Collection II (1999.03.1711-1999.03.1714 in this collection)
[The few photos in this series are of school pictures from Camp 20 in 1926, including the graduating class of three students. / RK]

Sub series: 8902FR1 Margaret Freeman Collection II (1999.03.1715)
[This is a single photo of several people in front of a steam donkey taken in 1912 in Trinidad / RK]

Sub series: 9001HME1 Milton and Edith Hunter Collection II (1999.03.1716-1999.03.1720 in this collection)
[Most of these are duplicates of Collection I (7113HME-7115HME), although there are a few that have not been seen yet in this digitization project, including some whaling postcards and a large crowd at the Trinidad Railroad Depot. / RK]

Sub series: 9002MO1 Thelma Moore-Atwell Collection II (1999.03.1721-1999.03.1725)
[In addition to many duplicates and photos with no contextual information, we have some familiar but different shots of the Moonstone area that were worth digitizing as well as pictures of a Trinidad school performance. / RK]

Sub series: 9003TR1 Jack Trego Collection II
[These photos are of a lumber town that is not identified, so therefore we deemed this series not eligible for digitization. / RK]

Sub series: 9004HC1 Clarence F. Heberlee Collection
[Mr. Heberlee once owned a smokehouse in Trinidad. These photos are of Trinidad in the 1960s and, likely, of him. We did not digitize this collection because there were no identifiers and we were not certain that the man in the photos was actually Mr. Heberlee.]

Sub series: 9005LA1 Axel Lindgren, Jr. Collection III (1999.03.1726-1999.03.1729 in this collection)
[This collection is composed of various photos including aerial shots of Trinidad, a 1914 Trinidad School class, some photos of Native American dances and people posing in regalia. / RK]

Sub series: 9006BYK1 Katie Boyle Collection of Ericson Postcards
[We have decided not to include this sub series in the digitization project, as there are already numerous digitized photos by A.W. Ericson, a very famous photographer from Humboldt County at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. Many of his photos are already on the Humboldt State University's database. / RK]

Sub series: 9007PR1 Pierce Flying Service Collection (1999.03.1730-1999.03.1734)
[We have included these aerial shots of Trinidad, taken ca 1938-1940 as a record of the growth and change of the town. Additionally, they pre-date the images from the Shuster Collection, available on the Humboldt State University database. / RK]

Sub series: 9008MC1 Harold M. McBeth Collection (1999.03.1735-1999.03.1746)
[Although we have no biographical information about Mr. McBeth, he did provide several photos taken by Mercer-Fraser Construction during their building of the Trinidad Whaling Station in 1920. / RK]

Sub series: 9101WG1 Gary Waters Collection (1999.03.1747-1999.03.1749)
[Gary Waters, who lived in Fremont, CA at the time these photos were copied by Katie, went to the Crannell and Trinidad schools in the late 1940s and early 1950s. These negatives are copies of three of his class photos. / RK]

Sub series: 9102BRY1 Meredith Heitman Berry Collection (1999.03.1750-1999.03.1755)
[Meredith Heitman Berry was a daughter of the Superintendent of Construction for Hammond Lumber Co. in the 1930s. In addition to a couple of personal photos, she owns several pictures of Little River Redwood Co. in its early days. / RK]

Sub series: 9103PMD1 M.D. Pierce collection (1999.03.1756-1999.03.1760)
[These are family photos of the Bakers, of Baker Ranch, Trinidad, in the 1910s. Any relation or connection to the source of these photos, M.D. Pierce, is unknown. / RK]

Sub series: 9501WM1-9503WM3 Mildred Webster Collection (1999.03.1761-1999.03.1795 in this collection)
[All of the photographs included in 6617WE1 were also in this collection. It is mostly comprised of whaling photos, although there are various others of interest in this collection dating from the 1920s-1940s. Mildred Webster's husband, Sid A. Webster, worked in the whaling station for a time; the photos with the letters S.A.W. are Sid's initials, identifying him in the photographs. The following notes by Katie are choppy and largely illegible, written on a piece of paper from a small legal notepad. / RK]

[Mildred Webster] married - 1929 - Grants Pass, [Oregon]. Father in business [with the] McConnha/Spinas families. Father bought out McConnaha/Spinas [store]. Sid quit whaling station then went to Saunders' Market, then Hammond Lumber. (Sid was working for Make [?] when married.) Sid Andrew. Her family rock quarried. Mother was cook at rock quarry when first came to town. Elmer Acron (corn) had first bought Clam Beach Inn in 1941 - sold 1945. M and Sid another couple. Lived in Trinidad in Squire home. Then lived at Clam Beach Inn. Sid had heart attack at Clam Beach Inn and didn't work after that. Sid died in 1967. Maiden Eunice 1911 Oregon Miles Small, William and Ada Whitehead. Her mother member of Tr. Ladies Club. Their son Valman was born Nov. 24, 1934.

Related Collections at the Humboldt State University Library

Warren Photograph Collection

Subject Headings

Trinidad (Calif.)
Crannell (Calif.)
Hammond Lumber Company
Lighthouses
Lumbering
Forests and forestry
Whaling
Yurok Indians

Library Special Collections & Archives

You are here

Boyle Photograph Collection - Finding Aid

Collection Number

Contact Information

Processed By

Date Collection Processed

Language

Collection Creator

Dates Covered by Collection

Size of Collection

Abstract