Guide to the Edward C. Adams Photograph Collection
circa 1902-1910

King Street west from Third Avenue, Dawson City, Yukon Territory, June 10, 1904. UW Libraries, Special Collections, UW 26394

Biographical Note

Edward C. Adams worked as a photographer at C.W. Bart's studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1896 and later moved to Nanaimo, British Columbia, to become a partner in the Adams & Pierce Studio. Adams established Adams & Co. in Dawson, Yukon Territory, with Charles D. Rothwell around 1901. George W. Larkin joined as partner in 1903. The partnership with Larkin dissolved in 1905 and the company reverted to its previous name of Adams & Co., continuing on until 1915. Adams’s photographic equipment was later purchased by the Dawson photographer E.O. Ellingsen.

Historical Background

In 1896 the Klondike Gold Rush started in the Yukon Territory, Canada, with the discovery of gold in Bonanza Creek on the Klondike River. The gold rush transformed Dawson, originally a native summer fishing camp, into the "Paris of the North." The town was staked out by Joe Ladue and named after George M. Dawson, director of the Geological Survey of Canada, who explored the region in 1887. Dawson was located near the Klondike River. The route the gold seekers took to reach Dawson was via the Yukon River, Miles Canyon, and Bennett Lake. Transportation to Dawson was limited to steamboat, dogsled, and horseback.

By 1898 Dawson, with 40,000 residents, was the largest Canadian city west of Winnipeg. Elaborate hotels, theaters, and dance halls were erected. It also included such amenities as telephone service, running water, and steam heat. The Bank of British North America opened offices in Dawson in a tent and business grew quickly. The Bank of Commerce opened its doors a month later, exchanging bank notes totaling over a million dollars for gold. The bank notes lasted only two weeks, with the bank shipping out over $750,000 in gold. By 1899 most the gold bearing creeks had been claimed by prospectors, with speculators claiming the rest. With the news of gold in Nome, Alaska, people started to leave Dawson in large numbers; 8,000 people left in the summer of 1899 alone. By 1902 the population was less than 5,000.

Major mining operations took over most of the Klondike gold beds in the years following the gold rush. The Klondike Mines Railway was finished in 1905 and helped mining companies transport resources in and out of the isolated goldfields. Gold production declined after an all-time high in 1911. In the early 1960s Dawson City was declared a National Historic Site.

During the height of its popularity, Dawson suffered four major fires, all between 1897 and 1900. While the fire in 1897 only burned down the opera house and two saloons, the 1898 fire destroyed 26 buildings. In the fires of 1899 and 1900, nearly the entire business district was wiped out. After 1900 the danger of fire diminished with improved fire protection and equipment, along with the shift toward building materials of galvanized iron and tin. However, due to continued fires, including one in September 1904, one section of Dawson became known as the "Burned District."

Arrangement

The photographs are arranged in 4 series:

• Dawson, Yukon Territory
• Bennett Lake, Yukon Territory
• Miles Canyon, Yukon Territory
• Yukon Territory

Scope and Content

This collection consists of photographs of people, activities, buildings, and street scenes in Dawson, Yukon Territory. Additional subjects covered are the Yukon, Miles Canyon, Bennet Lake, and the Yukon and Klondike Rivers. The photographs were made by Adams & Co. unless otherwise noted.

Alternate Forms Available

58 contact prints made from the original negatives are available for public use in the Special Collections division, University of Washington Libraries.

Portions of this collection have also been issued electronically via the World Wide Web by the UW Libraries' Digital Initiatives Program under the title Alaska and Western Canada Collection.

Restrictions on Access

The original glass plate and nitrate negatives are not available for use due to preservation concerns.

Restrictions on Use

Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries, for details.

Preferred Citation

Edward C. Adams Photograph Collection. Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries, Seattle, Washington.

Processing Info

Processed by Megan Sykes, 2005, and Megan Peacock, 2006; processing completed in 2006.

Inventory

Box/Folder

Item

Date

Dawson, Yukon Territory

The Dawson photographs were made by Adams & Co. unless otherwise noted.

1/1

1-4

Four-part panoramic view of Dawson landing and hills

1902

Photographer: Adams & Larkin Photo

1/2

5-6

View of Dawson City and the Yukon River from a hillside above Dawson

circa 1903

Photographer: Adams & Larkin Photo

7

Company warehouses on river with the city and a hill in the background

circa 1903

Photographer: Adams & Larkin Photo

Possibly part of a larger panorama.

Visible buildings include those labeled, N.A.T. & T.Co., Northern Commercial Co., and White Pass & Yukon Railroad.

1/3

8

First Avenue north from Queen Street

1904 June 10

9

First Avenue south from Queen Street, Mechanics Emporium Block on corner, with large wooden tower in middle of street

1904 June 10

10

Queen Street east from First Avenue from corner, with Mechanics Emporium and Goetzman Photography building

1904 June 10

11

King Street east from Second Avenue at corner, with Portland Building and Pioneer Baths

1904 June 10

12

King Street west from Third Avenue at corner, with Knickerbocker Furnished Rooms and Northern Liquor Co.

1904 June 10

13

Second Avenue south from King Street at corner, with Portland Building and Rochester Building

1904 June 10

14

Possibly Princess Street with Gem Bakery at the corner

1904 June 16

15

First Avenue south from Princess Street at corner, with the Fair View Hotel

1904 July 1

16

Queen Street west from Second Avenue at corner, with the Bank of British North America

1904 July 1

17

Queen Street east from Second Avenue at corner, with the Bank of British North America, Hotel Cecil, Pioneer Drug Store, and the Labbe Hotel

1904 July 1

18

Third Avenue south from Queen Street at corner, with Butler's Corner Grocer & Outfitter and Rook Brothers Groceries

1904 July 1

19

Shriners from Gizeh Temple, Victoria, British Columbia, in a parade in a Dawson street

1910

Photographer: Edward C. Adams

20

Telephone pole and log cabin building at corner, with a view of the street, including the Telephone Office

1908

Photographer: Adams & Co.

On item: "N.C. Co's. block showing Y.G. Co's. offices."

21

People viewing remains of fire in Dawson's "Burned District"

1904 September 23

1/4

22

Gymnasium Bathhouse

circa 1903

Photographer: Adams & Larkin Photo

23

Staff and nuns on upper and lower porches at St. Mary's Hospital

undated

Photographer: Adams & Co.

24

Harvest festival produce display on the sidewalk at Avery's South Dawson Grocery

1906 September 20

Photographer: Adams & Co.

25

Men and horse-drawn wagons and buggy at Bonanza Market

undated

26

Governor's residence

circa 1903

Photographer: Adams & Larkin Photo

27

Building with two windows made out of Klondike bottles

circa 1903

Photographer: Adams & Larkin Photo

28

Shack with tin sheets on exterior

undated

On item: "The tin age."

1/5

29

Interior of H.W. Butler's grocery store

undated

30

Interior of dry goods shop with sweets, cigars, and stationery for sale

undated

31

Interior of D. Kearney's clothing store

undated

Photographer: Edward C. Adams

32

Young girls seated around banquet table in Yukonia's Grill

undated

Photographer: Edward C. Adams

33

Customers and barbers inside Burlick's Barber Shop

undated

Photographer: Edward C. Adams

34

Interior of M & N Billiard Room

undated

35-36

Interior of D.A.A. Natatorium showing swimming pool and exercise equipment

undated

Photographer: Adams & Co.

37

Interior of Arctic Brotherhood Hall

undated

38

Lillian M. Hall Stock Company on stage practicing the play Camille

circa 1903

Photographer: Adams & Larkin Photo

39-40

Pyramid of gold bars worth over half a million dollars at the Bank of British North America

circa 1903

Photographer: Adams & Larkin Photo

1/6

41

Man with bicycle and bear on a chain

undated

42

Caledonia Scottish dance troop with Archie Black, conductor

undated

43

Group in front of G.B. of G Mess House at midnight

1906 June 21

Photographer: Adams & Co.

44

People in horse-drawn wagon, Labor Day

1906 September 3

Photographer: Adams & Co.

Possibly Labor Day celebration activity.

45

Curling team, winners of the Grand Challenge Cup, posing with trophies, brooms, and stones

1905 or 1906

46

Trophies of the Dawson Curling Club

1905 or 1906

47

Woman's basketball team

1907

48

Yukon Lawn Tennis Club group

circa 1901-1910 May 25

49

Six comic illustrations of the Yukon

1909 March

Photographer: Edward C. Adams

On item: "Points of interest and the large commercial industries and resources of the northland."

Box/Folder

Item

Date

Bennett Lake, Yukon Territory

1/7

50

Bennett Lake from Caribou Crossing

circa 1903

Photographer: Adams & Larkin Photo

Box/Folder

Item

Date

Miles Canyon, Yukon Territory

1/8

51-52

Four men on boat in Miles Canyon

circa 1903

Photographer: Adams & Larkin Photo

One picture is signed, but its similarity to the other image makes it likely that both views are by the same photographer.

Box/Folder

Item

Date

Yukon Territory

The photographs were made by Adams & Co. except where noted.

1/9

53

Men and dogsled team

1901 Spring

54

First train over the Klondike Mines Railway

1905 September 30

55

Cabins in snow-covered landscape with dog in foreground

undated

56

Snow-covered landscape

circa 1903

Photographer: Adams & Larkin Photo

57

Steamer Yukoner on the upper Yukon River

circa 1903

Photographer: Adams & Larkin Photo

On item: "One of the floating palaces."

58

Mammoth cakes of ice thrown up at the opening of the Yukon River at breakup

1906

Photographer: Adams & Co.

Ice is eight to ten feet thick.

59

Ice flow on the Klondike River

undated

Photographer: Edward C. Adams

Subject Terms

Personal Names:

Larkin, George W., photographer.

Rothwell, Charles D., photographer.

Organizations:

Adams & Co., photographer.

Adams & Larkin Photo, photographer.

Geographic Names:

Dawson (Yukon)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Photographs.

Dawson (Yukon)--Photographs.

Yukon Territory--Photographs.

Subjects:

Dwellings--Yukon Territory--Dawson--Photographs.

Streets--Yukon Territory--Dawson--Photographs.

Genre Headings:

Glass negatives.

Nitrate negatives.

Photographic prints.

Reproductions.