CAMPBELL MUSEUMS

The official tumblr of the Campbell Historical Museum, a local history museum and Ainsley House, a historic house museum, in Campbell, CA.

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Photograph of the George Hyde Cannery drying yard filled with California poppies around 1915. Pictured is Philander Dodson (born 1849) a cannery factory worker, and his daughter Leila G. Dodson (born 1892), a milliner in a hat shop.

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Photograph of the First Baptist Church in Campbell. Located on First Street, the first services were held by Reverend W.C. Ferguson, the church’s first pastor. Photograph captured in 1958.

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Photograph of a church picnic at Congress Springs, a favorite mineral springs in Saratoga. The area also included picnic sections as seen in the photograph and wilderness areas in the hills around pine, cedars, and oak trees.  This photograph was believed to be captured around 1915. Unfortunately, the individuals in this photograph are unknown. 

Photograph part of the Campbell Historical Museum photograph collection: 1974.01.0905

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A photograph of a trip to Lick Observatory atop Mount Hamilton in San Jose around 1913.

Individuals unknown.

Photograph part of the Campbell Historical Museum collection: 1989.14.0001

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This week’s #ThrowbackThursday features a class photograph of Hamilton School students in 1908. The grade of the students is unknown. The Hamilton School District was established in 1855 and was named after Zeri Hamilton (1811-1871) and Jane Hamilton (1822-1895 nee Blackford. Hamilton School was located on the west side of Bascom Avenue north of the railroad tracks. From left to right.

1st step (Front):  Mary Jane Eisentrout, Ernest Aschmann, Nina Brown 2nd step:  Clara O'Conner, Unknown First Name Gerkins, Lottie Sanders, Unknown, Frank Couch, Beatrice Watkins 3rd step: Unknown, Antinett Cancilla, Unknown, Unknown, Elmer Gerkins, Margaret Ferguson, June Brown, Edith Ferguson, Carl Carney

4th step: Buena Watkins, Isabella DiFiore, Rosile DiFiore, Annie O'Connor, Oscar Aschmann, Miss Luhrmann, Gertie Carney

Standing (Back Row): Russel Myers, Fred Dorety, Ralph Wayne Sanders

Photograph part of the Campbell Historical Museum collection: 1982.20.0005

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This week's #ThrowbackThursday features the Benjamin Campbell House in 1883 that was located near what is now North First Street and Campbell Avenue. Benjamin was 57 in 1883 and is pictured second in from the right side. Other members in this photograph are members of the Swope family. The Campbell and Swope families were close and friendly; Laura Campbell, Benjamin's daughter, married William Swope in the 1870s.

Photograph part of the Campbell Historical Museum collection: 1974.01.0057

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Helen Payne, born in 1880 and George Payne, born in 1875 (local orchardist and walnut grower) looking quite dapper at the Treasure Island World's Fair in 1939 or 1940.

The Golden Gate International Exposition was held at San Francisco's Treasure Island and was a World's Fair celebrating the city's two newly built bridges: the Bay Bridge completed in 1936 and the Golden Gate completed in 1937.

Treasure Island, an artificial island, was built in the San Francisco Bay. The island was constructed from 1936 to 1937 for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition/World's Fair.

The exposition opened from February 18, 1939, through October 29, 1939, and from May 25, 1940, through September 29, 1940.

Photograph part of the Campbell Historical Museum collection: 1992.22.0003

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This week's #ThrowbackThursday features Frank Duncan's (1873-1928) prune drying shed in Campbell in the 1890s. The drying shed also utilized horses to haul wood carts filled with lumber. The shed was located in the then Union district of Campbell. As the California Dried Plum acreage grew, so did the number of processing plants, as such facilities had to be within a horse-and-wagon haul of growers. By 1900, an estimated 85 dried plum packing plants had taken root throughout the area.

Photograph part of the Campbell Historical Museum collection: 1983.27.0008

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This week’s #ThrowbackThursday features a large field of California poppies in east San Jose during 1912. Research suggests that this field was once as large as 100 acres and regularly maintained by local residents.

This field is similar to the poppy fields of San Vicente Ranch in south San Jose that was preserved as an open space deal and is home to over 900 acres of oak trees and poppies.

Poppies became the official state flower of California in 1903.

Photograph part of the Campbell Historical Museum collection: 2001.03.0005

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This week's #ThrowbackThursday features a photograph of the interior of John Blaine's General Store that was once located at the corner of Central and Campbell Avenues. Pictured are John Doddridge Blaine (owner in center), Albert Billew (delivery man) and Jim Burns. John Blaine ran his business until 1926. Photograph captured sometime between 1913 to 1915. John Blaine’s wife was Ada Swope, the granddaughter of Benjamin Campbell. Blaine was the town grocer for many years until 1926. During that year, Blaine sold his stock and grocery store to focus on writing. His writings would later appear in commercial periodicals and major magazines of the time period including the American magazine, the Saturday Evening Post and a regular column in the Campbell Press.

Photograph part of the Campbell Historical Museum collection: 1974.01.0244

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This week's #ThrowbackThursday features a black and white photograph of the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton just east of San Jose. The date of the photograph unknown.

This observatory was constructed in a Classical Greek Revival Style from 1876 through 1887 from a bequest of James Lick (1796-1876). Lick was born in Pennsylvania but died in San Francisco where he lived during the last 30 years of his life. Following his arrival in the Bay Area, Lick began buying land in and around San Francisco and San Jose. He also bought land for orchards and built one of the largest flour mills California at the time on Montague Road in Santa Clara.

Following Lick's death, he left the majority of his estate to social and scientific causes including funds for the construction of an observatory. His home, the James Lick Mansion, is located in Santa Clara and is now privately owned.

Photograph part of the Campbell Historical Museum collection: 1974.01.0297

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This week's Throwback Thursday features a portrait of Mary L. Rodeck (1894-1934), the granddaughter of Benjamin Campbell and the daughter of Lena Rodeck nee Campbell and Saul George Rodeck.

This photograph was captured around 1906, in the midst of Mary's high school career.

According to later census records from the 1910s and 1920s, Lena never married and lived with her mother in Campbell into her 30s.

We don't know much about Mary's later years, but we are actively researching her life in Campbell in the twentieth century including her early death at 40 years of age in 1934.

Photograph part of the Campbell Historical Museum collection: 1974.01.0066

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Photograph of Joseph Furtado, Joaquin Gomes, Rose Furtado, Mary Gomes and Joseph Gomes at the Gomes Home on Llewellyn Avenue in Campbell.

Avenue in Campbell. Joe Furtado and Mary Gomes (nee Furtado) were siblings. Mary married Joaquin Gomes who purchased land on Llewellyn around 1900. While Joe Furtado married Rose Furtado (nee Rodrigues). The Gomes and Furtado families were some of the earliest Portuguese families in Campbell.  

The street is now home a post office, a Jack in the Box, and of course many homes!

Photograph captured around 1900.

Photograph part of the Campbell Historical Museum collection: 1974.01.0288

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This early photograph features Campbell Farmer's Union Packing Company workers in a field working out of drying pans.

The Campbell Farmer's Union Packing Company was succeeded by the California Prune and Apricot Growers (commonly known as Sunsweet).

Campbell Farmer's Union Packing Company began in the early twentieth century and was located at 5 Central Avenue in what is now Downtown Campbell. 

These organizations were long-lived co-operative for prune and apricot growers.

Photograph captured between 1890 – 1910.

Photograph part of the Campbell Historical Museum collection: 1988.09.0002

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Photograph from the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE) held in San Francisco’s Marina District in 1915. Local Campbell residents Grace and Lois Bohnett stand in front of one of the exposition’s attractions - the Liberty Bell. The iconic symbol of American independence traveled by train on a nationwide tour from Philadelphia for the exposition and has not made any other journeys since. 

Photograph part of the Campbell Historical Museum collection: 1974.01.0138

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American paratroopers float down from transport planes to assist Australian and Netherlands forces in the capture of Noemfoor Island, off the coast of Dutch New Guinea (now Western New Guinea).

On the ground we see a number of parachutes which carried paratroopers to a safe landing.

The Battle of Noemfoor was a battle of World War II between July 2 and August 31, 1944.

These three Allied countries attacked  to capture Japanese bases on the island. The island was occupied by Japanese forces in December 1943.

Photograph captured in 1944.

Photograph part of the Campbell Historical Museum collection: 2009.05.0008

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Here we have a true crime story for you that happened in Campbell, CA in the early 1990s.

This week's #ThrowbackThursday features an article found in the Campbell Express's September 20, 1995 publication.

This article details the verdict for Tammy Garvin who was found guilty of murdering her employer Rolf Neumeister.

In the early 1990s, Neumeister owned and operated Brigette’s Restaurant in downtown Campbell. Garvin’s guilty verdict was handed down nearly more than four years after the murder took place on February 25, 1991.

Photograph part of the Campbell Historical Museum newspaper collection.