Siskiyou
County
Biographies
GUY A. PRATT
Guy A. Pratt, of Weed, well and favorably known throughout the Sacramento Valley, is regarded as one of the leading photographers of this section, his work, in both portrait and scenery, having received the highest praise from competent judges. Mr. Pratt was born in Iowa on the 29th of December, 1876, and is a son of Alonzo and Frances Ella (Miller) Pratt. His father, who was a blacksmith by trade, died in Colorado, and the mother subsequently moved to Los Angeles, California, where she lived to the time of her death, which occurred in 1928.
Guy A. Pratt attended public schools of Wyoming, and there spent a number of years in his young manhood as a cow puncher and in the breaking of horses. In 1904 he went to Oregon, and later located in Sunnyside, Washington, where he became an apprentice to the art of photography. After completing his period of apprenticeship, he went to Portland, Oregon, where he started in business for himself. He gained an excellent reputation as a photographic artist and conducted his studio there until 1924, when he came to Weed and established his present studio near the main highway. Here also he gained quick recognition for the superiority of his work and in order to properly handle his increasing business, he erected a splendid stone building, twenty-five by eighty feet in size, containing eleven rooms, including office, studio and operating rooms, as well as living quarters, all designed in accordance with his own ideas and with all modern conveniences. He not only does fine portrait work, but also kodak finishing, painting, tinting and landscape work, as well as framing and all other work pertaining to his art. He has taken more scenic views in this district than any other photographer and sells in the neighborhood of fifty thousand postcards a year, placing his cards in all of the towns within a wide radius of Weed, and at the same time extending his reputation for high class work.
In 1920 Mr. Pratt was united in marriage to Miss Cora Hendershoot, whose parents were formerly residents of Oregon, but are now deceased. Mr. Pratt is a great lover of hunting, fishing and other outdoor sports, and of nature in all its forms. He is a man of genial and kindly manner, a good mixer, and is acquainted throughout this district, being held in high esteem for his ability and sterling personal qualities.
Transcribed
by Joyce Rugeroni.
Source: Wooldridge, J.W. Major History of the Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 2 Pages 73-74. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010 Joyce Rugeroni.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County Biographies