Clapshaw Glass Plate Negatives

Hauling Wood

Three sets of empty wagons drawn by pairs of horses, each driven by a man in work clothes, stand in front of cords of wood. The wood is cut roughly and was probably meant to be firewood. A barn or warehouse sits behind them. In the background, there is a hill planted with rows of crops (possibly grapes or berries). The tall, skinny top of an agricultural building, perhaps used for drying or smoking food such as hops or prunes, extends above the horizon. This photograph was probably taken near Forest Grove, Oregon around 1910-1914; possibly near the Hillside neighborhood.

This is one image from a set of glass plate negatives created by William Alonso Clapshaw. Clapshaw was a clerk and shopkeeper who lived near Forest Grove, Oregon for most of his life. He was born in 1880, probably at the family's home in the Hillside neighborhood of Forest Grove, on what is now Clapshaw Hill Road east of Gales Creek. Around 1910-1914, William took an interest in photography and created a set of glass plate negatives documenting scenes near his family's lands as well as images of himself, his friends and family members. He most likely used a silver gelatin dry plate process. The photographs were donated to the Pacific University Archives in 2023.

Clapshaw, William Alonso, 1880-1990

circa 1910-1914

PUA_MS154_013

Agricultural laborers

Horses

Wagons

Forest Grove, Oregon

Gales Creek, Oregon

Gelatin silver negatives

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Pacific University Archives