Selected digitized images from this collection.
Collection open for research.
Pioneers of San Bernardino. Consult library. San Bernardino Public Library, California Room, San Bernadino, CA 92410.
The original negatives were collected by Pioneer Society and digitized as part of LSTA Grant 2006-2007
When applying for the grant with the Local History Digital Resources Project, the California Room committee was asked to select the photographs that would best benefit our patrons. Due to the interest in early settlers of San Bernardino, the collection of pioneer negatives was selected. Now many would have access to portraits of those individuals who are mentioned in the written histories of the area. The 200 photographs consist primarily of portraits provided courtesy of the City of San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society.
A few other photos were made available from local donors. This completes our pioneer portrait collection. In the future if we find suitable photographs to add to the collection, we will digitize the materials and add them to the collection. The digital images are available to the public through the library's website (see
This group of San Bernardino Pioneers was the daring folks that in the 1850s traveled by wagon trains on the Santa Fe and Salt Lake Trails that brought them to San Bernardino. They formed a pioneer society in our town.
They had their portraits displayed at the Pioneer Cabin on F Street in San Bernardino. The portraits were tagged with a number that corresponded with an index that contained names of the individuals in the pictures. These numbers appear on the negatives and therefore are visible on our digitized photos.
A fire destroyed the cabin, the pictures, and the index. The firemen saved a box of negatives. A number of years after the fire, the negatives were located at the fire station. Then later they were presented to the San Bernardino Public Library. Prints were made. The original negatives and prints are available at the San Bernardino Public Library in the California Room.
The prints were put in a notebook with as much information as possible concerning the people depicted. Mary L. Lewis compiled this work. She included brief biographies on such notables as John Brown, Jr., George Cooley, Henry Goodcell, Dr. Ben Barton, and the Holcomb family. She also made a copy of the notebook and that was given to The City of San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society located at D and 8th Streets.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection.