Rolfe, Frank, 1874-

Frank Rolfe was born in Gold Hill, Nevada in 1874, where his father was working as a miner on the Comstock Lode. In 1881, the family settled on a ranch in the Temescal Valley in Riverside County, near what is now Corona, and in 1890, in order to further her children's education, Rolfe's mother moved herself and the children to Los Angeles; they spent winters in the city and summers on the family ranch. Frank graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1894, and earned a degree in geology from Stanford University in 1898. He worked on the Los Angeles aqueduct survey, and possibly on the construction of the Ludlow and Southern Railway. He was a long-time member of the Historical Society of Southern California, and authored articles on California history and geology.

From the description of Historical Society of Southern California Collection - Frank Rolfe Collection of Photographs and Negatives [graphic], 1899-1959, (bulk 1905-1907, 1925-1932)? (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 122639139

Biographical/Historical Note

Frank Rolfe was born in Gold Hill, Nevada in 1874, where his father was working as a miner on the Comstock Lode. In 1881, the family settled on a ranch in the Temescal Valley in Riverside County, near what is now Corona, and in 1890, in order to further her children’s education, Rolfe’s mother moved herself and the children to Los Angeles; they spent winters in the city and summers on the family ranch. Frank graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1894, and earned a degree in geology from Stanford University in 1898. He worked on the Los Angeles aqueduct survey, and possibly on the construction of the Ludlow and Southern Railway. He was a long-time member of the Historical Society of Southern California, and authored articles on California history and geology that appeared in Historical Society publications and the Los Angeles Times in the 1930s; he was also the author of “Commercial Geography of southern California,” published by Biola Press, c.1915.

The Rolfe Collection comprises one portion of the Historical Society of Southern California (HSSC) Collection, which was donated to the Huntington Library in 1992. The HSSC Collection as a whole contains approximately 15,000 photographs and negatives covering the period circa 1870 to circa 1980, and almost exclusively depicts Southern California. As such, it is an important visual record of the growth and history of the region.

From the guide to the Historical Society of Southern California Collection – Frank Rolfe Collection of Negatives and Photographs, 1899-1959, (bulk 1905-1907, 1925-1932), (The Huntington Library)