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.

Toledo, Ohio, circa 1909. "Summit Street." Our second glimpse along this bustling retail corridor, home to the Taft Dental Parlors, Baltimore Lunch, Kugler's, Stein's and Mockett's. 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
I love the photographs where only one person is fully aware of the camera and has stopped to look and/or be captured.
Probably North, either way, there's none of this grandeur left. A shame.
Today's Top 5