Sam Swanlund applied color paints to dozens of photographic prints made from historical images of Humboldt County. Before selling the painted image he would take a photograph of it, make prints and then sell the framed prints. These four are examples of the prints he made of the painted images. They were donated to the Cal Poly Humboldt Library by Ed Scarff in 2008. They once hung in the offices of the Arcata Redwood Company (between Highway 101 and Humboldt Bay, midway between Arcata and Eureka) and later hung in Mr. Scarff’s San Francisco office.

Hauling tanbark in Southern Humboldt County, circa 1908 Based on Cal Poly Humboldt Library image 1999.01.0041 Loading tanbark on a ship from the Mattole Wharf, circa 1908 Based on Cal Poly Humboldt Library image 1999.01.0064 Loading tanbark from the Mattole Wharf, circa 1908 Based on Cal Poly Humboldt Library image 1999.01.0149 Metropolitan Mill, circa 1908 Based on Cal Poly Humboldt Library image 1999.01.0213

Cal Poly Humboldt Library is fortunate to own several hundred images by R.J. Baker. Please visit Special Collections (Room 303 in the Library) to view and enjoy them.