116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Capturing the moment: William Baylis and his early images of Cedar Rapids
William Baylis was a landscape photographer — a bit of a character, you can just tell — who photographed Cedar Rapids and Linn County in the early 1900s.
His black-and-white pictures and colorized postcards show Cedar Rapids street scenes and Eastern Iowa landscapes.
An exhibit of those pictures — some of considerable size — and postcards, 'Snap Shots by William Baylis,' is on display on the third floor of the Cedar Rapids Public Library, 450 Fifth Ave. SE, through August.
Baylis was born Sept. 12, 1873, in Wheatland, a small city in western Clinton County. When he was 15, his family moved to Cedar Rapids, where he developed an interest in photography, which was by then a technology available to many.
But few went as far afield as Baylis, photographing not just his friends, but landscapes, the river, an ice house, a baseball club, a streetcar barn.
Taking pictures became Baylis' life's work, providing him with a successful career that spanned decades.
He never married, had no children, and died May 22, 1957, at the Linn County Home. He is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in southeast Cedar Rapids.
Baylis is credited with taking close to 25,000 photographs. Over the years, people have donated close to 1,000 of his images to The History Center, which prompted the display at the library.
Posing on the rocks at 'the Palisades' near Mount Vernon in 1909, photographer William Baylis and friends look down on a couple reading a book. To the far right of the picture, Baylis can be seen posing with the group, holding his hat in his left hand. If you look closely, you can see his hat conceals the camera shutter release cable he used to take the photograph. The area where the picture was taken — which would become Palisades-Kepler State Park in 1922 — was a favorite spot for summer outings, with boat rentals, summer cottages and a log cabin restaurant. (Photo by William Baylis/The History Center)
The Greene Opera House Baseball Club poses with a stagecoach drawn by donkeys on June 6, 1909, in Cedar Rapids. (Photo by William Baylis/The History Center)
The incline to the Hubbard Ice House, 1242 First St. NW in Cedar Rapids, surrounded by workmen and horses, is shown around 1910. (Photo by William Baylis/The History Center)
Trolleys are parked at the Cedar Rapids Streetcar Barn at 417 N. Third St., Cedar Rapids, around 1905. The trolleys were part of the Cedar Rapids & Marion City Railway. (Photo by William Baylis/The History Center)
The frame for the safe's door is delivered in 1910 to People's Savings Bank, 101 Third Ave. SW, in Cedar Rapids. (Photo by William Baylis/The History Center)
This street scene of Second Avenue SE in Cedar Rapids from around 1910 shows the Mansfield block of businesses. Businesses visible include the Grand Union Tea Co.; J.G. Whelihan Wholesale and Retail Druggist; Gray Optical; F.W. Harwood General insurance; Michael Ford, contractor (where a man is looking out the window); Deacon Good Sargent & Spangler, lawyers; John T. Liddle Real Estate Office; H.L. Nehls & Co. Farm Lands, City Property and Insurance. (Photo by William Baylis/The History Center)
A picture William Baylis took of himself, around 1910, when he was doing a lot of traveling in the West. (Photo by William Baylis/The History Center)
The two-story Larimer Building, which sat on the Fourth Street SE railroad tracks, is shown Dec. 11, 1919, displaying advertisements for the Strand Theatre, the Majestic Theatre and the Baldridge Studio, which was Baylis' main competitor. Behind the Larimer Building is the Strand Theatre. The tall building in the background is the Cedar Rapids Savings Bank, which later became Guaranty Bank & Trust. (Photo by William Baylis/The History Center)
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