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.

Philadelphia circa 1906. "Hermit Lane Bridge on the Wissahickon." 5x7 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
And it has a big brother now:
Here is the colorized postcard version as sold by the DPC. I have to say, the colorizer artists as well as the printing process often gave pretty impressive results for the time.

Today's Top 5