Most of the photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs, 20 to 200 megabytes in size) from the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) Many were digitized by LOC contractors using a Sinar studio back. They are adjusted by your webmaster for contrast and color in Photoshop before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here.

Circa 1904. "Garden Hotel, Atlantic City." Sharing the corner with a high-tech arc lamp. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
The photographer has this just right. All is in focus and the "spot the real tree" telephone poles to the left are ace.
Craig Hall at Illinois and Pacific began life in 1897 as The Garden Hotel. The hotel was demolished in 1933 and a post office was erected on the site four years later.
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