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:
San Francisco, 1922. "Stephens Salient Six touring car." Named after the founder of parent company Moline Plow, Stephens was a short-lived marque, lasting from 1916 to 1924; in 1920, its best year, the Illinois-based firm produced around 7,000 cars. 5x7 inch glass negative by Christopher Helin. View full size.
Circa 1905. "Dead River sawmill, Marquette, Michigan." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.
May 1941. "Mulatto ex-slave in her house near Greensboro, Alabama." Nitrate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Circa 1905. "St. John Street, Quebec." Rue Saint-Jean at Côte du Palais in Quebec City, home to the drugstores of P. Mathie and J.E. Livernois. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.
The Jersey Shore circa 1905. "Ponies on the beach at Atlantic City." In the background, the Steeplechase and Steel piers. Closer to the camera, five ponies, five boys and five incendiary Easter eggs, so to speak. View full size.
Chicago circa 1903. "Fine Arts Building, Michigan Avenue." Now playing at the Studebaker Theatre: Castle Square Opera Company's production of The Pirates of Penzance. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Photographic Co. View full size.
Circa 1900. "L.R. & H.S.W. R.R. Depot, Hot Springs, Arkansas." A locomotive of the Little Rock & Hot Springs Western Railroad. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.
Circa 1901. "The Military Road, San Juan, Puerto Rico." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.