American Historical Ephemera & Photography

Cabinet card of the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City – winter view with leaves gone from the trees, making it easier to see the entire structure. C.R. Savage backmark. 

Charles Roscoe Savage is the best-known Mormon photographer. He was born in England and converted to the Church of Latter-Day Saints there. He traveled to the United States in 1859 and shortly made his way westward. His early photography concentrated on landscapes and railroads, including the linking of the transcontinental railroad at Promontory, UT. He also photographed the construction of the Mormon temple in SLC. The Art Bazar burned in 1883, damaging all of Savage’s glass plates. Those could no longer be used for reproducing prints and some are rare.

[With:] Newark, Licking County, OH Court House fire, 1875. Two cards. The first of the building with smoke swirling around the clock tower. The second after the fire was extinguished. No photographer’s identification on either.

[Also with:] Photograph of a First National Bank decorated for a patriotic holiday with flags and bunting around windows.