View towards the town of Avenal in the Salinas valley with the Santa Lucia mountain range in the distance, Avenal, circa 1929

Item Overview

Title

View towards the town of Avenal in the Salinas valley with the Santa Lucia mountain range in the distance, Avenal, circa 1929

Alternative title

C.C. Pierce & Co., 1572 W. Pico St., L.A., 19

Photographer

Pierce, C. C. (Charles C.), $d1861-1946

Language

No linguistic content

Collection

C.C. Pierce Photographic Collection, circa 1898-1934

Notes

Description

View down a dirt road towards the town of Avenal which appears as a narrow band of buildings and power poles along the main road through town, with the Santa Lucia mountain range in the background. The buildings appear to be mostly houses, a few businesses and a church on the far right. There is also an oil rig on the center-right side of town. Legible signage in the photograph includes: Golden Rule Shoe Shop, The Republic Supply Co. of California, and H. C. Smith MFG Co.
The identification of the town as Avenal was made on the basis of the visible signage in the photograph and the presence of the oil rig. In 1928 the Milham Exploration Company struck oil, turning this agricultural community into a boomtown. The Republic Supply Company is listed in Wikipedia as one of the first business established at Avenal at this time. In 1929, the California-based H. C. Smith Manufacturing Company was sold by its founder, Herman C. Smith, to Global Oil Tools.

Physical Description

Extent

1 photograph : b&w

Dimensions

8x 10 inches

Keywords

Genre

panoramas
cellulose nitrate film
black-and-white photographs

Names

Avenal (Calif.)

Location

Avenal (Calif.)

Longitude

36.0041223

Latitude

-120.1290272

Resource type

still image

Subjects

Environment
Petroleum industry--California--Avenal
Santa Lucia Range (Calif.)