Feature of the Month - The Hickman Collection 🏆

March 2025 Registry Feature

This month's featured Registry Set Collection is the J.J. Reilly themed Hickman Collection.  The collection itself is a celebration of the photographer John James Reilly, a pioneer in American stereoview photography.  

John James Reilly was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1838.  Very little is known about his life as a young boy, but by the age of 18 he had immigrated to the United States.  Arriving in California in 1856, J.J. Reilly travelled East across the United States towards Niagara Falls.  Upon arriving in The Falls in late-1859 or early 1860, Reilly would have observed a fascinating new technology being used to capture still images: the photographic camera.  Some of the earliest full-plate landscape daguerreotypes in America were of Niagara Falls in the early 1850's, with photos of table rock prior to the 1850 collapse known to exist to this day.  Early photographers would have sales tents set up in Prospect Park to sell early cabinet cards, daguerreotypes and ambrotypes to vacationers.  Reilly would have no doubt been captivated by this, and by 1863 he was already working as a local photographer.

After the Civil War, stereoview photography grew in popularity across the United States as it had provided a 3D visual account of the war between the North and the South.  By 1866, some of Reilly's earliest stereoviews were being sold to the public for the first time.  One of those early photos is the iconic Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge stereoview photo.  This photo was likely inspired by the earlier 1858 ambrotypes of the two tollmen at the front of the suspension bridge (original photographer unknown).  Reilly's iconic stereoview of this scene is prominently displayed as the first piece in The Hickman Collection, as registry item #1139.  

This stereoview is of the lower carriage deck of the suspension bridge spanning across the Niagara River Gorge.  Perfectly placed at the center of the bridge, the camera captures a satisfying view of symmetry and perfect geometric engineering.  This view captured by Reilly would later inspire other photographers in the area to capture the same view, such as George Barker and George Curtis.  Many photographers would describe the bridge as one of the most terrifying places to take images.  Heavy coal trains would be passing overhead and the bridge would bob and sway as the engine roared down the tracks on the upper deck.  One photographer described it as having the sound of '100 canons'.  250 feet below the bridge were the raging rapids of the Niagara River and the bridge would often sway as the winds passed through it.  

The second piece in The Hickman Collection that we are looking at today is registry item #1212 of the Niagara Falls ice bridge.  The ice bridge was a popular mode of crossing the Niagara River during Winter deep freezes.  Tourists could travel down the Ferry stairwell on the U.S. side and walk across the lower gorge on the thick frozen ice.  In fact, many children and families would sled and ski along the frozen mounds of ice at the bottom of the waterfall.  In this stereoview, Reilly captures an unidentified man trekking across the dangerous river ice.  Magnified in the viewer would be the added sense of peril coming from the waterfall behind him.

Author and historian Peter Palmquist describes this photo as likely being taken in the Winter of 1868 or 1869.  During this time, Reilly also made many trips to the base of The Falls and beneath Table Rock to take photos of the waterfall from below.  Reilly would sell many of these views from a booth outside of the Niagara Falls suspension bridge, offering a 3D memento to travelers and tourists alike.

In early 1870, John James Reilly began to make his way back to California.  Other photographers such as Eadweard Muybridge, Thomas Houseworth and Charles Leander Weed were already in California capturing unique views of the Gold Rush, the mammoth trees of Calaveras County and the Yosemite Valley.  Reilly was no doubt excited by the new frontier and was already familiar with the landscape having arrived in California 14 years earlier.  The Hickman Collection celebrates this move West with registry item #1796, the Hutchings Hotel in Yosemite, California.  An earlier version of this stereoview was first taken by Eadweard Muybridge in 1868, and Reilly captures the same scene in stunning detail in the Summer of 1870 or 1871 (likely 1870).  

Behind the hotel stands Sentinel Rock Mountain, towering 3,042ft into the air.  This stereoview is one of Reilly's most iconic of the Yosemite Valley.  Reilly would travel Yosemite by horse and carriage to take his photos.  The carriage was loaded with chemicals, equipment and a large 'dark tent' by which Reilly could expose his photographs.  Reilly's process was exceptional, and this is apparent in his stereoview photography, which was much sharper and more detailed than many other stereoview photos of the day.

The last stereoview that we will be looking at in The Hickman Collection is registry item #1743.  This stereoview is of a mammoth redwood tree in the Mariposa Grove of Yosemite Park.  The origin of this view is a bit of an enigma.  The view was sold in France and is identified in French on the front of the card.  Published in the early 1870's, this photograph was likely taken by one of several photographers in Yosemite at the time and then published in France.  The felling of the Discovery Tree and the stripping of the Mother of the Forest Tree in the Calaveras North Grove near Dorrington, California created a stir of interest across the World.  Customers demanded photos of these mammoth trees, the largest in the World, and the area quickly became a tourist destination.  

This stereoview captures an enormous gap within the center of the giant tree.  Identified as view #238 on the stereoview, it is very possible that this is a Reilly view.  Many of Reilly's Yosemite views were numbered between 200 - 500s, so it is quite possible that this is a photograph taken by him.  Perhaps you sleuths out there could help us correctly identify the tree pictured here and the photographer?

J.J. Reilly continued to capture photos of the West throughout the 1870s.  Reilly travelled along the U.P.R.R. and C.P.R.R. and took many photos of Utah, Colorado, California and Nevada.  In 1879, Reilly moved to a photography studio in Marysville, California.  John James Reilly continued to work as a photographer in Northern California for the next 15 years.  After a divorce which left him penniless, J.J. Reilly took his own life in June of 1894.

The Hickman Collection won the award for the month of March, but it is also important that we acknowledge the detailed research that this collector has provided for future generations of historians.  This award also celebrates the tireless dedication that this collector has put into stereoview research throughout the decades.  Congratulations to The Hickman Collection for achieving the Award of Excellence.

Check in with us next month when we feature another collection from the registry!  Photos of other stereoviews from The Hickman Collection are available on the registry page.