Fish Creek, Chelan County, Washington, ca 1930
Alfred G. Simmer was the photographer of the Black & White picture on this 1930s postcard. The name Simmer and the place are written in white at the lower left of the card. It is identified as Fish Creek, Chelan, #191. My grandmother, Lil Anna Hornnes Schroder received this card from her brother John as a Christmas and New Year’s greeting in 1930. The rushing water of this creek or river may have reminded both of them of the Otra River in southern Norway where they grew up.
Fish Lake is a small lake located northeast of the larger Lake Wenatchee. On a current map there is a creek or small river exiting Fish Lake called Fish Lake Run and I think it is possible that it may have been called Fish Creek when this card was published. Both lakes and nearby rivers and streams are known to be good fishing areas. Today outdoor activities near Wenatchee include hiking, water skiing, kayaking, windsurfing and swimming. Nearby trails are open to hikers, bikers, horseback riders and there are areas for rock climbing as well. In the winter Wenatchee State Park is used for cross-country skiing, dog sledding, snowmobiling, and ice climbing.
There is a brief biography of Simmer, titled "Simmie," on Ancestry.com by Bill Miller, as part of Public Member Stories. That plus the picture of Alfred G. Simmer, above, was taken in Alaska, both appeared in an article from Highway News, a publication of the old (Washington State) Department of Highways; From Highway News Feb 1953, v. 2 no. 8. It was unexpected and fun to find a picture of the photographer.
As a photographer, Simmer, is known mostly for the pictures he took in Alaska of Eskimos and local scenes between 1905 and 1907. His wife appears in several of the photographs he took while living in Alaska.
I wondered what happened to him after 1907. He turns out to have had an interesting and varied life. Born in Germany he came to the United States at about age 15 and lived with his aunt and uncle in San Francisco while he continued his education. He was a drafter and civil engineer as well as a photographer. He married Mary Louise (Mitzie) Setil in Seattle 1903 and soon after they moved to Nome, Alaska where they built a home. Both of their children were born while the family lived in Alaska, a son, Edwin, in 1905 and a daughter, Dorothy, in 1908. After they left Alaska they moved back to Seattle in 1910 where they lived for several years before moving to Wenatchee in 1922.
It was while they were in living in Wenatchee that Simmer became self-employed as a portrait and commercial photographer. After 17 years of studio photography work he went to work in Olympia, Washington for the Highway Department in the Bridge Division and the Planning Division doing special photography work. Sometime after his wife passed away in he moved to San Joaquin, California. His two adult children were married by then and living not far away in the San Francisco Bay area, Edwin in Santa Cruz and Dorothy in Navato. Alfred George Simmer was born in Danzig, Germany 11 February 1874 and passed away 15 April 1958. Mitzie was born in Vienna, Austria in 1882 and passed away 25 April 1946 in Olympia, Washington.
For more information, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Chelan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wii/Lake_Wenatchee_State_Park
Ancestry.com
Thanks for the info. I collect his postcards, and have a few from alaska, a few from western washington, and a bunch from Eastern washington when he was living in Wenatchee. He then moved back to Western Washington where he was paid by the state to document the building of the floating bridge, and the first Tacoma narrows bridge.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the post. There were a lot of these independent photographers. It is surprising how many of the cards are still around. Thanks for the additional information.
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