Early Santa Fe Streetview Photograph
A nice 19th century view of Francisco Street in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico. The unpaved street is lined with several buildings, including several two-story structures on the right side. Mountains can be seen in the distance. The photograph's printed description, including a lengthy paragraph about Santa Fe, is attached to the verso of the mount.
Franklin A. Nims
Franklin Asa Nims, a noted western photographer, was born on August 27, 1854, in Manlius, Onondaga County, N.Y. He worked as a photographer in Colorado and New Mexico, and seems to have been based in Colorado Springs. Notably, he made photographs during the Stanton Expedition railroad survey for the Pacific Railway (1889-1890), with Frank M. Brown and Robert B. Stanton. Nims was surveying a possible railroad route along the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, but was seriously injured on Jan. 1, 1890 in Marble Canyon, 15 miles from Lee's Ferry. He later worked as a stenographer and bookkeeper. Nims died on January 2, 1935 in Anderson, Madison County, Ind. The Denver Public Library has a typescript of Nims' 1889 diary covering the Brown-Stanton railway survey party.
Rarity
Such early original photographs of a Santa Fe, New Mexico streetviews are rare in the market.