Hill & Yard

Biographical/Historical note

Andrew Putnam Hill (1853-1922) was born in Porter County, Indiana. In 1867 at the age of 14, he moved to California with an uncle, coming to Santa Clara County in 1868. He attended high school at Santa Clara College, and then studied art in San Francisco.

Hill became professionally involved in photography in 1889, opening a studio in San Jose with Sidney J. Yard. Several photographs from this studio were part of the Santa Clara County display at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.

Hill came to the new campus of Stanford University in 1891 to photograph the campus buildings, student life, particularly group portraits and settings, as well as activity on the Palo Alto Stock Farm. His interest in Stanford continued throughout the 1890s.

By 1900, Hill had become extensively involved in the effort to save the Felton Big Trees Grove of redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Working with other members of the newly founded Sempervirens Club (which included many Stanford and Berkeley faculty), Hill lobbied in Sacramento against commercial use of the area and for its designation as a State Park.

From the guide to the Andrew Putnam Hill photograph collection, 1853-1922, (Department of Special Collections and University Archives)