These photographs are a selection of early images of Alaska by various photographers. They are from all over Alaska, but the concentration is in Alaska’s Southeast. Originally housed in the general photograph files (CORE FILE), they were removed because they are now considered rare and fragile. All photographs in PCA 01, which were fragile, faded or unsuitable for constant handling in the core file were transferred to PCA 297 and renumbered in a consecutive numbering system. Photocopies were made and placed in the core file. Oversize prints were left in 01 as their oversize storage protects them in a similar way (reduced image photocopies are found in the CORE FILE).

The views are largely from the pre-gold rush period and are generally original prints. However, some images date as late as the 1920s. Most represent some of the earliest Alaska photographs, which make them of interest for subject matter and as important examples of early photographers and photography. (See also PCA 341, and other collections, for work organized under various early photographer names.) Few, if any, of these photographs have original negatives here in this library.

Photographers and companies (not all appear to be professional photographers) represented by one or more images in this collection include Landerkin, Reuben Albertstone, Harrison Bros (Juneau), Isaac W. Taber (San Francisco), J.M. Blankenberg, Lance Burdon, C. Stites, Winter and Pond, Eugene S. Willard, E. Chamberlin (Sitka), (George?) Mercer, W.B. Byram (Pasadena), Heimberger and Son (Indiana), (Sydney?) Hamilton, B. W. Kilburn, Asahel Curtis (Seattle), and Peterson and Bro. (Seattle) and Walter Strand.