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.

The photo was taken on South Manitou Island, Lake Michigan, c. 1872. The barn has disappeared but the historical farmstead and the entire island is now within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Aaron and Julia Moore Sheridan are the standing couple, upper left. Aaron Sheridan, my great grandfather, was the South Manitou lighthouse keeper from 1866-1878. View full size.
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