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The SOHS Sawyer Collection

The images presented here are part of a donation we are calling the Sawyer Collection. The images have come from multiple photography studios, some of them unidentified. Most were taken by the Kiser Studio of Portland, Oregon in the 'Teens and early 'Twenties, especially of rugged scenes in Crater Lake and Glacier National Parks and along the Columbia River. A small collection was taken 1905-07 by photographer H. G. Peabody of Massachusetts and Maine urban and coastal scenes. An anonymous collection portrays architectural and rural views taken in Central Mexico in the same era.

The collection was saved and cared for by William Gruber, who had a long working relationship with the Portland photography studio Sawyer Service Inc. Gruber was the inventor of the popular View-Master, which he produced in collaboration with Sawyer’s. According to the donor, in 1939 Sawyer’s was poised to dispose of these glass plate negatives in order to focus on the View-Master, when Gruber offered to take the plates. Over the past eight decades, the Gruber family has meticulously maintained the collection of approximately 3,000 plates, weighing roughly half a ton. Southern Oregon Historical Society received the plates as a donation in 2019, and has made them publicly available with additional grant funding from Oregon Parks and Recreation and the Oregon Cultural Trust.

 SAWYER COLLECTION INDEX        WILLIAM GRUBER       WHEN THE COLLECTION ARRIVED AT SOHS     

Displaying 301 - 350 of 2802
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Title
SWY0311

Roses, close
SWY0312

Oregon Agricultural College Band on Shipboard
SWY0313

Oregon Agricultural College Band on Shipboard
SWY0314

Multnomah Falls
SWY0321

graded road in the Columbia River Gorge, Oregon side
SWY0322

Oneonta Gorge near the Columbia River Highway.
SWY0323

Graded width of original Columbia River Highway, eastern Multnomah County or western Hood River County.
SWY0324

Columbia River, as seen from the Oregon side, probably Crown Point looking east.
SWY0325

Likely a coastal scene, probably Clatsop County given the estimated date.
SWY0326

Fields, trees in the Willamette Valley.
SWY0327

Two men seated, tripod, car, waterfall in background. Early camp along the Columbia River Highway, probably at Eagle Creek (the first USFS campground).
SWY0328

People on deck of a ferry or ship, on river or inlet - land in background. Passenger ship on the Columbia River near the Interstate Bridge (Portland to Vancouver).
SWY0329

Ship smokestacks and lifeboats; passenger vessel on the Columbia River.
SWY0330

Rear of SPand S Train and Pyramid Rock, lower Columbia River, Oregon.
SWY0331

Approaching train on tracks next to Columbia River near Astoria, with Tongue Point in the distance.
SWY0332

Westport, SPand S Railway. Mill is near the Columbia River, Clatsop County, Oregon.
SWY0333

Gearhart Hotel
SWY0334

A Glimpse of the Columbia River Highway from Gordon Falls.
SWY0335

Trees, road, lake (similar view to 334).
SWY0336

Lake, mountains, sky scene at Glacier National Park, Montana.
SWY0337

East Side of Crown Point, Columbia River Highway
SWY0338

Looking Upriver from Crown Point, Columbia River Highway
SWY0339

Crown Point & Columbia River, Columbia River Highway
SWY0340

Crown Point, with Columbia River behind it, Multnomah County, Oregon.
SWY0341

Small hotel located at Crown Point, Multnomah County, Oregon, along the Columbia River Highway.
SWY0342

Crown Point
SWY0343

Columbia River Highway near Horsetail Falls, note concrete bridge.
SWY0344

Horse Tail Falls on Columbia River Highway
SWY0345

Point near Shepherds Dell, Columbia River Highway; note height of retaining wall.
SWY0346

Columbia River Highway near Multnomah Falls, at its original surfaced and paved width.
SWY0347

Kappa Alpha Theta on beach showing surf by near Seaside and looking south to Tillamook Head.
SWY0348

Kappa Alpha Theta on shoreline, near Tillamook Head at Seaside.
SWY0349

Kappa Alpha Theta, Dining Room, Gearhart Hotel
SWY0350

Kappa Alpha Theta, Portland Chapter Alpha XI, at the Gearhart Hotel.
SWY0351

Kappa Alpha Theta, P.S.I. Chapter, at the Gearhart Hotel.
SWY0352

Gearhart Hotel Group
SWY0353

Tillamook Head, Gearhart Beach
SWY0354

Surf Bathing, Gearhart Beach
SWY0355

Crown Point Showing Chalet--circa 1916
SWY0356

Sunset from Coopeys Point, Columbia Highway
SWY0357

Above the Fog Banks from Coopeys Point, Columbia Highway
SWY0358

Looking Downriver from Angels Rest, Columbia Highway
SWY0359

Angels Rest from Coopeys Point, Columbia River Highway
SWY0360

Down the Columbia River from Angels Rest
SWY0361

Cape Horn (Washington) and Columbia River from Coopeys Point, Columbia River Highway.
SWY0362

Angels Rest and Columbia River from Coopeys Point
SWY0363

Downriver from Coopeys Point, Columbia River Highway
SWY0364

Summit of Angels Rest and Columbia River
SWY0365

Summit of Angels Rest
SWY0366

Rock Formation, Angels Rest, Columbia River Highway