Our holdings include hundreds of glass and film negatives/transparencies that we've scanned ourselves; in addition, many other photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs) in the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) They are adjusted, restored and reworked by your webmaster in accordance with his aesthetic sensibilities before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here. All of these images (including "derivative works") are protected by copyright laws of the United States and other jurisdictions and may not be sold, reproduced or otherwise used for commercial purposes without permission.
[REV 25-NOV-2014]
Vintage photos of:
November 1908. Gastonia, North Carolina. "Going home from Loray Mill. Smallest boy on the right-hand end, John Moore. 13 years old. Been in mill 6 years as sweeper, doffer and spinner." Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.
Washington circa 1926. "Semmes Motor Co., Maryland Hennery Association truck." A hennery being a place where hens are raised. My Shorpy GPS (Guessing Possible Street) says this might be the back of a building that faced Pennsylvania Avenue. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
Washington, D.C., circa 1926. "Wilkins-Rogers Milling Co., exterior, 3261 Water Street." The Washington Flour mill on K Street, formerly Water Street, in Georgetown. The Washington Flour brand had a retail presence at least into the late 1960s. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
June 1942. "Construction at Douglas Dam, Tennessee Valley Authority." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the OWI. View full size.
Washington circa 1925. "Tepper Building, Standard Engraving Co., 470 Louisiana Avenue N.W." The Tepper family business is what you might call vertically integrated: Joe's law practice upstairs, above Saul's "Notions, Hosiery, Underwear." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
"Center Market, 1922." Produce vendors in Washington, D.C. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
March 1918. The National Theatre on E Street. At right is Shoomaker's, a favorite Shorpy hangout. Harris & Ewing glass negative. View full size.
My nephews and I celebrating my Native American themed birthday. It's spring of 1964 in North Carolina as noted by the jonquils on the table. Kodachrome slide taken with my father's Kodak Automatic 35 camera. View full size.