Charles Conrad Kuchel (1820 - December 20, 1864) was a German-American viewmaker and lithographer active in Philadelphia and California in the mid-19th century. Kuchel was born in Zweibrucken, Germany. He emigrated to the United States in the 1840s, settling in Philadelphia where he found lithographing work with Peter Stephen Duval (1804 - 1886), one of the most prominent Philadelphia lithographers of the 19th century. He moved to California in 1853, settling in San Francisco. There he partnered with Emil Dresel (1819 - 1869) as 'Kuchel and Dresel' to issue series of bird's-eye views of California and Oregon cities. The partners also created a unique series of views illustrating mining camps. These are some of the only surviving visual records of often short-lived gold rush boomtowns. Kuchel died in San Francisco in 1864. More by this mapmaker...

Georg August Emil Dresel (April 13, 1819 - July 27, 1869) was a lithographer and architect based in San Francisco in the mid-19th century. Dresel was born in Geisenheim, Rheingau-Taunus-Krei, Germany, the son of a well-known champagne producer in Weisenheim, Germany. Dresel trained as an architect in Wiesbaden. In 1849, he followed the lure of the California Gold Rush, sailing from Bremen and landing in Galveston, Texas, before setting out overland for San Francisco. There he befriended Charles Conrad Kuchel (1820 - 1864), with whom he founded a lithographing firm, 'Kuchel and Dressel', in 1853. They specialized in bird's-eye views of California and Oregon cities. The partners also created a unique series of view illustrating mining camps. These are some of the only surviving visual records of often short-lived gold rush boomtowns. Dresel ultimately chose to follow his father into winemaking, and purchased 400 acres of land in Sonoma. His vineyards still operate. Dresel died in San Francisco in 1869. Learn More...

John Milton Commodore Jones (March 1829 - August 12, 1881) was a California prospector and publisher active in the mid-19th century. He was born in Indiana or Ohio. Jones discovered gold on the Klamath River in 1850, near the flats west of Yreka. The discovery led to a stampede of prospectors, but Jones himself served as Under Sheriff and later constable in the town of Yreka, California. Around 1855, he partnered with Lucius Fairchild (1831 - 1896) to become a merchant the gold rush town of Scott River. Fairchild went on to become Governor of Wisconsin. Jones died in Oakland while seeking treatment for an unknown terminal illness. Learn More...

Britton and Rey (1852 - 1906) was a lithographic firm based in San Francisco founded by Joseph Britton (1825 - 1901) and Jacques Joseph Rey (1820 - 1892). The leading firm in the area during the second half of the 19th century, Britton and Rey eventually earned the reputation of being the western Currier and Ives. They published both large-format and postcard views of California, as well as with stock certificates, stationery, and maps. Within the partnership, Rey was the artist and Britton the principal lithographer. Britton was also principally concerned with the business aspects of the firm. The firm also printed lithographs by other artists, including Thomas Almond Ayres (1816 - 1858), George Holbrook Baker (1824 - 1906), Charles Christian Nahl (1818 - 1878), and Frederick August Wenderoth (1819 - 1884). After Rey's death in 1892 and Britton's subsequent retirement, the firm passed to Rey's son, Valentine J. A. Rey, who ran the firm until at least the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. A. Carlisle and Company, another San Francisco printer, acquired the remains of the Britton and Rey firm in 1916. For more information about Joseph Britton and Jacques Joseph Rey, please reference their individual biographies included in our cartographer database. Learn More...