Grass Valley and Vicinity, Taken by D. Fricot, circa 1894-1910

Summary

Creators:

Désiré Fricot

Abstract:

The Grass Valley and Vicinity collection contains 56 photographic prints taken circa 1894 by Désiré Fricot.

Extent:

56 photographic prints, 20 x 25 cm. or smaller (some mounted, 23 x 28 cm. or smaller); 1 single-page document, 36 x 22 cm.; 2 booklets: 15 x 24 cm., and 18 x 13 cm. 56 digital objects

Language:

Collection materials are in English

Background

Scope and content:

The Grass Valley and Vicinity collection contains 56 photographic prints taken circa 1894 by Désiré Fricot. The collection appears to have originally been intended as an album, as two of the mounts are covered in fabric, one of which bears the hand-painted title "Grass Valley, 1894." The collection features views and scenes of the Grass Valley area of Nevada County, California --the most productive gold-mining region in the nation --and reflects various interests of the Fricot family. The town of Grass Valley itself is represented in general views, street scenes, and views of several residences and other points of interest. Also included are several scenes of mines --including the prosperous North Star Mine --and mining; the outlying Deer Creek, Shebley Park, and other natural areas; and a Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad train wreck.

Several people, most of whom are presumably members of the Fricot family, appear throughout the album.

Several of the prints are numbered and bear the name of "D. Fricot." The only other identified photographer is "Dowe."

The collection also contains a document describing the incorporation of the Eastern Star Gold and Silver Mining Company, and two booklets --a promotional report on the region entitled "Nevada, the Banner Gold County of California," published circa 1910; and a general history and overview of the area entitled "Souvenir of Grass Valley and Vicinity," published circa 1895, which is illustrated with many of the Fricot photographs included in the collection.

Biographical / historical:

Désiré Fricot (1868-1940) was the son of Jules Nicolas Fricot, a French emigre who became a California mining pioneer. Part of a larger community of French prospectors, the Fricot family owned and operated a number of very prosperous mines in the Grass Valley and Nevada City areas of Nevada County, as well as mines in Calaveras County. They also owned real estate in San Francisco, and were apparently active in French diplomatic and consular activities in California and Hawaii.

Désiré Fricot was also a translator of French language documents into English. In 1940, the California Historical Society published his translation of and introduction to André Chavanne's The Burning of the Golden Gate in July 1862. The Impressions of a Survivor, André Chavanne (in California Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 19, no.1, pp. 27-42), an account of the steamship Golden Gate. In 1944, the same organization published his California Unveiled: A Translation of Treny's La Californie dévoilée (reprinted from The California Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 22, no. 4, December 1943, and vol. 23, no. 1, March 1944). Both of these publications are held by the Bancroft Library.

Acquisition information:

The Grass Valley and Vicinity photographs were purchased in 1976.

Rules or conventions:

Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Location of this collection:

UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US

Contact:

510-642-6481

bancref-library@berkeley.edu

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