1914. "Alley clearance, slum views." Vestiges of the 19th century in a Washington, D.C., alleyway. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.

Washington, 1912. "Edward Beale McLean with Mrs. McLean." Edward (Ned) would become publisher of the Washington Post; his wife, the mining heiress Evalyn Walsh McLean, was the last private owner of the Hope Diamond. Their tempestuous union would be the fodder for countless headlines leading up to their divorce in 1929. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.

San Francisco c. 1902. Building St. Boniface Church. The monk in the center, holding the roll of plans, is the German-born Adrian Wewer, O.S.F (1836-1914), architect of this and over 100 church and other buildings in the U.S. Next to him on the left, the big strapping guy in the dark hat and holding a cigar stub, is my grandfather on my mother's side. Four years later, the building was reduced to an empty shell in the earthquake and fire. Scanned from a period 8 x10 probably contact-printed from a glass plate. View full size.

"Baghdad By the Bay" was San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen's nickname for The City, and the title of his collection of affectionate essays published in 1949. My sister took this nicely-detailed 120 Ektachrome transparency just 5 years later, before the neighborhood Victorians became gentrified and the downtown skyline Manhattanized. The intersection at the lower left is Hayes and Shrader. View full size.

1864. "Atlanta, Georgia. Street view." To the right, a hatter. Everywhere else, dirt and mud. Wet plate glass negative by George N. Barnard. View full size.

My brother-in-law at the North Pole, which in February 1958 was in Scotts Valley, California. The second Santa's Village theme park to be built, 1957-1979. 2¼ 120 Anscochrome transparency shot by my sister on her honeymoon. View full size.

"Hell Gate Bridge (New York Connecting Railroad Bridge)," circa 1915. This steel arch span over the East River was completed in 1916. View full size.