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Historic Photos: Essential Tools for Preservation Advocacy
By Robin Lakin
September/October 2023
 Alice Lee/Katherine Teats House, 1905. 3574 Seventh Avenue. Architects Hebbard & Gill, with Hazel Waterman. Photo courtesy Coons Collections |
Historic photographs are a crucial preservation tool for restoring and advocating for old buildings. Images can be used to show the original design, construction process, and building techniques and materials. They also document historic places, events, and people with historical and cultural value.
Most important, historic photos provide evidence to support a resource’s legal protections to help prevent demolition or non-historic alterations. And, by comparing images from different time periods, historians and preservationists can track changes in a historic building or site, and understand their evolution.
Photos document detailed information about a building or place that may not be present or visible today: its original design, architectural and landscape features, materials, and historical context. In addition, images including vehicles, furnishings, landscapes, and even toys, clothing, and hairstyles can reveal pertinent clues and time-specific information that can assist restoration efforts and interpretation of the resource.
Family photo albums and the like offer a wealth of often overlooked historic data and environmental character. A seemingly mundane snapshot of a teenager leaning against a hotrod in his driveway not only stokes memories and sentiment, but also can convey pertinent period features, such as the split-level house next door. A photo of a little boy outdoors in the early 1930s, proudly holding his puppy, might also portray a home in Old Town that was razed decades ago.
For 25 years, SOHO has drawn primarily on benefactor and Executive Director Bruce Coons’ private collection of about 3,000 historic San Diego images and ephemera for use in our advocacy work. They have also been used to enhance our website, publications, exhibits, and educational efforts. Developed for his own study and advocacy, the collection spans the 1860s through the 1900s, and focuses on San Diego County architecture, especially adobes and Victorians; historic interiors; streetscapes; gardens; and transportation.
Please note that SOHO is not equipped to serve as a public archive. We share these images with others generously in the manner that we best can, by publishing in articles, displaying them in both physical and online exhibits and sharing abundantly on our social media platforms.
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