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Charleston: 1865
... the round church on the left would be a ringer for a railroad roundhouse. I wonder if the woman is dressed in mourning, and if ... hand, was never rebuilt. (The Gallery, Charleston, Civil War, Geo. Barnard) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/23/2011 - 1:19pm -

April 1865. Charleston, South Carolina. "St. Philip's Church with ruins of Circular Church and Secession Hall." Casualties of the Great Fire of 1861. Wet plate glass negative by George N. Barnard. View full size.
+145Below is the same view from June of 2010.
Cross sectionInteresting "cutaway" or cross-section view of the brick chimney on the right, across the street. Without the low brick walls, the round church on the left would be a ringer for a railroad roundhouse.
I wonder if the woman is dressed in mourning, and if she is, is he mourning a recently deceased victim of the fire, or is she mourning a loved one previouly buried in the cemetery. I guess it could be a recent victim who was just buried.
[The fire was in 1861 -- four years before this photo was made. - Dave]
Shorpy returns to CharlestonWhat a great series of post-bombadment photos, beginning with those of several months ago! History is often painful, but far more so when we see how we can hurt our own.
[As noted in the caption, these building were destroyed by fire four years before the photo as taken. - Dave]
A different view todayMust be from the other side of the church from where timeandagainphoto's pic was taken.
Re: +145The guy sitting on the wall has moved.
New CircularityThe Circular Congregational Church was eventually rebuilt-- in the 1890s. Apparently the ruins were simply left there for several decades until they were scavenged for bricks used to construct the Richardsonian Romanesque hulk which replaced the old church. Secession Hall, on the other hand, was never rebuilt.
(The Gallery, Charleston, Civil War, Geo. Barnard)

Detroit Opera House: 1904
... was formed in May 1906 by Ohio native Henry M. Wright (a Civil War veteran as a member of Co. B, 85th Ohio Volunteers) and John Kay, who was ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/19/2012 - 10:23pm -

The Detroit Opera House circa 1904, starring an electric runabout out front. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Detroit Conservatory MusicWhat, they were too cheap to spring for an "of"?
Digital sign againI've noticed that each time we've seen one of those "digital" signs it's been on or in front of a large theater, opera house or concert hall, the type of venue you'd expect the upper classes, rather than the hoi-polloi, to frequent. My speculation: it's something used to signal carriages for their ritzy patrons. Below: this one compared to ones at Philadelphia's Nixon Theatre and Academy of Music.
Update: Thanks to TomHe for confirming my speculation.
High Bridge?Look in the window of the Pennsylvania Lines shop.  Is the picture on the easel that of the High Bridge of recent memory?
[Unfortunately, no. - tterrace]
Videochas PicThat's Horseshoe Curve, near Altoona, PA
Makes My Heart SingWhat a lovely building! I was born in the wrong era. I come to Shorpy everyday and I'm never disappointed with the photos here. I would hope this building is still standing. I absolutely love the honeycomb glass transom at the entrance door. I wish buildings of today had the details of old world craftsmanship. Sigh.
[Demolished 1966. - tterrace]
What is that thang?Sharp eyes as usual from tterrace, but I can't make out just how this configuration of three identical sets of light-bulb "dots" could be lit to form letters or numbers. The mysterious device's Academy of Music installation, at right, appears to include some kind of identifying signage on the end of the clapboard base beneath it. Dave, is your highest-res tiff file of this photo sufficiently clear to read that information?
[Not clear enough on the full LOC tiff, unfortunately. - tterrace]
Pennsylvania LinesThe Pennsylvania Railroad was a late arrival in Detroit, not gaining a direct entrance there until 1922, and then only by trackage rights on the Ann Arbor, Pere Marquette  and Wabash Railroads. The Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad was chartered in 1854 to build a line from Fort Wayne to the Straits of Mackinaw through Grand Rapids. It became part of the Pennsylvania Lines in 1869. It too had no direct connection to Detroit, relying on a connection with the Wabash in Ft. Wayne to get to the Motor City.
Identify car?Great picture! Can anyone identify that nifty little car?
The proverbial needleConcerning identifying the automobile, unless it was built by a select few makers, I doubt it can be positively identified.  
During this period there were around a thousand automobile manufacturers in America alone.  What we do know is that it's an early brass era runabout with tiller steering, semi-eliptical leaf springs at each corner, and wooden spoked wheels.  That should narrow it down to about 50 manufacturers, some of which existed for only a few years.
Re: The proverbial needleI think I have identified the car.  It's an AJAX ELECTRIC. I have attached a photo from an advertisement from 1903, for visual comparison.
[Here they are together. Among other differences, note the absence of front leaf springs. - tterrace]
Wright & KayThe jewelry firm of Wright & Kay (big sign atop building) was formed in May 1906 by Ohio native Henry M. Wright (a Civil War veteran as a member of Co. B, 85th Ohio Volunteers) and John Kay, who was born in Scotland. They were jewelers, opticians, importers and dealers in watches, clocks, diamonds, marble statuary, silver and plated ware and fine stationery, and they manufactured watches and other products under their own name. Recently some Wright, Kay & Company watches were auctioned at Christie's.  
About that haystackMy first thought when I looked at the full-size image was Studebaker. After further research the answer will have to be no, they were building a Runabout with very similar bodywork and proportions in that era but it had major mechanical differences from this machine.
As BradL said, this was a time when literally hundreds of companies ranging from blacksmiths, to buggy shops, to established manufacturers of sewing machines and other mechanical equipment, all took a fling at the automobile. 
MysterymobileI'm almost certain it's a Waverly Runabout, built in Indianapolis. I have a current-day photo but it's somebody's property. Note its steering is via a front tiller whereas the Studebaker has its tiller on the side.  
Re: Digital sign againA carriage call indeed. Picture below shows numbers lit.
WaverleyDon Struke has it, I found a vintage Waverley advertisement that certainly seems to match the mystery car closely.
HorsesCalm and unaware that they were about to be unemployed in very short time.
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Detroit Photos, DPC, Performing Arts)

Mammoth Plates: 1891
... or have one made to your specification. After the Civil War, American Optical, Scovill and the Henry Clay Co. were among the commercial ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2012 - 7:56pm -

Mexico circa 1891. "Ferrocarill Central Mexicano. Canal of Nochistongo," a drainage excavated in the 17th and 18th centuries to keep Mexico City from flooding. Note the giant camera and tripod employed by William Henry Jackson in the making of his heroically proportioned photographs, the largest of which were recorded on a medium the archivists call "mammoth plates" -- glass negatives that measured 18 by 22 inches. (This particular image was made on an 8x10 inch glass plate -- what modern photographers would consider "large format," but still only a fifth the size of an 18x22.) Detroit Publishing Co. glass negative. View full size.
Big CamerasWere those "Mammoth Plate" cameras custom or home made or were they available commercially?
ImpressiveI used to shoot a lot of landscapes in large format (4x5) before the digital age hit photography. I can identify with these gents lugging all that equipment around but not to the extent they did. I cannot imagine 18x22 in the field. My hat's off to them. That's an extremely hard thing to do.
Unsteady footingOne slip, and goodbye large format camera, tripod and photographer!
PerspectiveIs anyone fooled by the perspective here? It doesn't look like that ledge is tall enough for the train to look as tiny as it does!
The Big Picture>> Were those "Mammoth Plate" cameras custom or home made or were they available commercially?
If you were a photographer in the mid 19th century you'd most likely buy a prefab lens assembly and make the box yourself (not that complicated, as most cameras then didn't have shutters), or have one made to your specification. After the Civil War, American Optical, Scovill and the Henry Clay Co. were among the commercial makers of big view and box cameras. A nice selection here.
Rapido corren los carrosMakes me think of a rolling "rrrrrr" tongue-twister a Mexican priest taught me many years ago:  "Rapido corren los carros cargados de azucar de los ferrocarriles."  
Glass PlatesGlass plates were coated on the spot. Or at least the night before. The glass was the expensive part, the silver nitrate emulsion came in either screw top tins or light tight jars, and were coated in the field. If the plate negative was not satisfactory it was a simple matter to strip the emulsion, recoat the glass plate and try again.
[You're thinking of the wet-plate negatives used around the time of the Civil War. Most glass plates made after 1880 (including this one) are dry-plate negatives -- coated with emulsion by the manufacturer and presensitized. - Dave]
Little Town in the backgroundI like how you can make out the little town in the background of the photo.  You can see the big church with its dome and towers. 
Very nice picture. I wonder where in Mexico this was taken.
Nochistongo CutThe little town in the background distance of the photo is Huehuetoca, State of Mexico. The domed church that you can see in the distance is still there and can be located near the center of town on google maps.  This impressive ditch called the Nochistongo Cut (El Tajo de Nochistongo) was dug by hand (mostly indigenous near slaves) starting, if I recall correctly, in about 1607 and took about 120 years to complete. It is said that up to 30,000 laborers were worked to death in the process, though I haven’t seen any historical texts confirming it.  Considering the times & place it could easily be true. It’s about 45 miles from Mexico City and is visible (the ditch) in satellite view though the waterway is obscured by trees & bushes.  The railroad still passes there but there are 4 lines now. The area is rapidly filling up with outer suburbs of the capital. It was dug in an effort to relieve the severe flooding Mexico City was subject to ever since the Spanish conquest, when the Spaniards as a tactic destroyed some of the protective dikes the Aztecs and their precursors had erected to regulate water flow in the Valley of Mexico and then proceeded to erect their own capital city on the ruins.  Ultimately the cut was not successful at stopping the flooding, as Mexico City was sinking slowly into the mud of the ancient lake beds, leaving the drainage collectors too high to drain all of the low areas of the city.
(The Gallery, DPC, Railroads, W.H. Jackson)

Off the Rails: 1862
March 1862. "Manassas, Va. Orange & Alexandria Railroad wrecked by retreating Confederates." Wet plate glass negative by ... the Virginia Railway Express . (The Gallery, Civil War, Geo. Barnard, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/21/2012 - 9:17pm -

March 1862. "Manassas, Va. Orange & Alexandria Railroad wrecked by retreating Confederates." Wet plate glass negative by George N. Barnard. View full size.
Round and Round She Won't GoThat's the wrecked turntable in the foreground.
Puttin' On The RitzThe Gentleman in the top-hat, timepiece in hand, appears to be wondering why his train is late.
Abe? Is that you?A little too short and dumpy to be him I think. But that
is still one fine stove pipe hat.
Question on Date?Confederates weren't in Manassas around that time.  They were bottled up in Richmond and Stonewall Jackson was running up and down the valley.  Later in the year (August) Jackson got into Manassas and tore up the rail lines. so I wonder if the time or if the place is wrong here?  Or if this was just some guerilla action.
I Beg To Differbobprobst states that "Confederates weren't in Manassas around that time. They were bottled up in Richmond and Stonewall Jackson was running up and down the valley. Later in the year (August) Jackson got into Manassas and tore up the rail lines. so I wonder if the time or if the place is wrong here?" 
In fact the Confederate Army held the area around Manassas until March 11, 1862. General Johnson had concentrated the Confederate Army of The Potomac around Centreville, which is north of Manassas, for the army's winter camp for 1861-62. A six mile railroad from Manassas Junction to the Centreville camp was constructed to improve supply to the camp. On March 9, 1862 Johnson ordered his army to withdraw to the Rappahannock, abandoning the Centreville lines and Manassas, and both the Confederate military railway and the Orange & Alexandria where ordered to be destroyed The Union Army occupied Manassas on March 11, 1862. In other words the March 1862 is entirely correct.
O&AI grew up in Burke, VA, within a few hundred yards of the former Orange & Alexandria line - close enough to distinctly hear the click-clack of the trains at night through the trees. There's a very interesting site on the history of the Orange & Alexandria here. The O&A tracks are now used by Amtrak, Norfolk Southern, and one of the commuter railways into Washington, the Virginia Railway Express.
(The Gallery, Civil War, Geo. Barnard, Railroads)

City Point Wharf: 1865
... From photographs of the main Eastern theater of war, the siege of Petersburg, June 1864-April 1865. Wet plate glass negative. ... follower, and I love this photo for it's portrayal of the Civil War, but I don't see any life at all. The trees are dead, the water is ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/23/2009 - 11:20pm -

1865. "City Point, Virginia. Wharf, Federal artillery, and anchored schooners." From photographs of the main Eastern theater of war, the siege of Petersburg, June 1864-April 1865. Wet plate glass negative. View full size.
FavoriteI have been reading this blog since the beginning, and this one may be my new favorite.  There's so much life in this picture.
Life?I also am a loyal Shorpy follower, and I love this photo for it's portrayal of the Civil War, but I don't see any life at all. The trees are dead, the water is dead, there are no people anywhere, the artillery is on its way to kill people. I don't think life describes it.
[There are easily at least a dozen people in this photo. - Dave]
Schooners and BrigantinesI find the docked and anchored sailing ships to be very interesting. There doesn't appear to be a steamer among them which leads me to believe that the rubble piles on the wharves are indeed ballast. But who knows, flat bottomed river steamers also used these wharves.
The four vessels that have two fore and aft rigged masts are schooners. The two that have square rigged foremasts are brigantines.
Although any of these vessels could navigate the high seas, they are also typical of the coastal trade of the time.
Life.It's Winter, see the long coats on the men by the close ship and the skeletons of trees.  The water can't hold still for photograph, even river water in a harbor, calm and desirable for the men on the ships then and now ghostly for you to look at.  And as we all know, artillery doesn't kill people, people kill people. 
Ballast or Coal?On the pier to the left, would that be ballast or coal?  My guess would be ballast.
Wooden WorldJust look at all the wood in this photograph.  Human beings would never have created our modern world without mastering the use of wood.  The pier appears new, as there is no staining on the deck, and the piledriver is still lashed alongside.  Some of the piles even have their bark still attached, indicating the pier was erected in haste.  I believe that is coal rather than ballast.  There are two steam powered tug boats in the photograph, and what looks like the pilot house of a sternwheeler.  Ballast would have been loaded on board at the shipyard, not at a small port such as this.    
Now THIS is a fantastic pictureWhat a gray, gloomy, cold looking mess. I love it!  I'd really like to see more pictures of nautical subjects, Boats, ships et al.  Really nice and smoky.  Post 'em if you got 'em.
Other uses for coalOn sailing ships, as on steam ships, coal could be used for cooking and heating.
Cassions a RollingWhat you see here are caissons (a French word meaning box) and artillery cannons. Apparently the caissons and cannons were unloaded separately then assembled on the dock.  I count a total of about 45 caissons most with their cannons.  Early in the war this would have seemed like a very large number of cannon but by 1865 with the Union manufacturing base 45 was just another in a long line of cannon headed south.  
A Tale of Two WharfsThis is the new Munitions and Coal Wharf that was built to replace the one destroyed in August, 1864 by a Confederate Secret Service agent's "horological torpedo" (time bomb) that was planted in a munitions barge.  The resulting explosion killed over 40, wounded hundreds (the raining debris barely missed Gen Grant) and wiped out the docks.  The long curved wharf with the limbers, caissons and a traveling forge on it was the Ordnance or Munitions Wharf.  The wharf to the left with the barge and schooner alongside is identified on a June, 1865 Military Railroad map as the Coal Wharf.  The coal was often brought out of the holds in sacks, carried to the top of the pile via the wooden ramp and dumped out.  To coal a steamer they would do it in reverse.  It was a very dirty and labor intensive job.
And the caissons keep rollingMost of the carriages lined up are caissons, not artillery pieces (although there are a couple of cannon interspersed).  Caissons were carts which held the boxes which had the shot and powder for the guns.  An artillery section would normally have a gun pulled by a six horse team and one of these caissons, pulled by another six horse team.  It looks like in this photo that they had some of the guns attached, by their limber, to the caissons, so they could be pulled together while awaiting shipment. A modern replica of this is the Fort Sill Half Section located here.
BallastI'm guessing the piles are ballast as well, which when you think about it is what you'd need at a port like this where ships would arrive with heavy cargoes but have very little being shipped out. I can't imagine City Point would generate much in the way of outgoing cargo.
There is a small steamer in this picture, the Relief, just to the left of the building and below the brigantine.
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Civil War)

Chattanooga Depot: 1864
... with Federal cavalry guard beyond. From photographs of the War in the West. Battle of Chattanooga, September-November 1863. Photograph ... the Chattanooga Choo Choo was a United States Military Railroad? Won't you choo-choo me home? It's the Chattanooga Choo ... Miller big band fame, that's for sure. (The Gallery, Civil War, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/16/2008 - 8:04am -

1864. Chattanooga, Tennessee. "Boxcars and depot with Federal cavalry guard beyond. From photographs of the War in the West. Battle of Chattanooga, September-November 1863. Photograph probably taken the following year, when Chattanooga was the base for Sherman's Atlanta campaign." Wet plate glass negative, half of stereo pair, photographer unknown. View full size.
Pardon me boys...Who knew the Chattanooga Choo Choo was a United States Military Railroad?
Won't you choo-choo me home?It's the Chattanooga Choo Choo!
Sacks in the boxcarWonder if it's grain for the cavalry horses...
Chattanooga DepotDuring Sept-Nov 1863 the Federal forces were besieged at Chattanooga and no rail traffic entered the city. What supplies did manage to get through came from the north side of the Tennessee River on what is known as the "Cracker Line." Once the rebels were forced from the heights of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge and put into full retreat, the city became a depot for Sherman's offense in Georgia. We used to own a house on Missionary Ridge and I have walked all over the battle area. Many Union veterans settled in Chattanooga after the war and Chickamauga battlefield (and parts of Chattanooga) became the first National Military Park. The rail depot was in the part of town where one can today find the Chattanooga ChooChoo, a hotel.
Not what Glenn Miller had in mindNot the luxurious Chattanooga Choo Choo of Glenn Miller big band fame, that's for sure.
(The Gallery, Civil War, Railroads)

A Race Set Free: 1906
... Group , erected in Park Square in front of the Providence Railroad passenger-station, is by Thomas Ball, and was a gift to the city by ... L.J. Peretti Tobbacconists . (The Gallery, Boston, Civil War, DPC) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/30/2012 - 8:27am -

Boston circa 1906. "Lincoln statue, Park Square." An interesting juxtaposition of Emancipation and Plumbing Supplies. 8x10 glass negative. View full size.
The Emancipation Group


King's Handbook of Boston, 1881.

The Lungs of the City.
Boston Common, Public Garden, Parks, Squares, Monuments, Statues, and Fountains.

… 

The Emancipation Group, erected in Park Square in front of the Providence Railroad passenger-station, is by Thomas Ball, and was a gift to the city by Moses Kimball. Its cost, exclusive of the curbing, which was furnished by the city, was $17,000. It is of bronze, on a granite pedestal, and is a duplicate of the "Freedman's Memorial" statue in Lincoln Square, in Washington, D.C. It represents the erect form of Abraham Lincoln spreading out his right hand over the head of a kneeling freedman with his shackles broken. On the pedestal is the word "Emancipation." On the base are these words: "A race set free ⋅ and the country at peace ⋅ Lincoln ⋅ rests from his labors." It was unveiled Dec. 6, 1879; Mayor F.O. Prince delivering the oration.
D.C. CopyI'm pretty sure there's a copy of this statue in Lincoln Park on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
My fathers family has roots way back in New England Could be a relative of mine was in the Plumbing supply business.
+105The Emancipation Group statue is indeed a copy of the one on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.  Sculptor Thomas Ball designed and sculpted it.  The Boston copy has held court in Park Square since 1879 when it was donated by politician Moses Brown, a friend of Mr. Ball.  
Emancipated says"What's the deal with the hair, man?"
Gotta love that faux-hawk.
StillA powerful piece of work.  Beautifully done.
Stand upIt's a lovely statue, but I would like it better if the black man was standing and Lincoln was shaking his hand.
Later:
I get what you mean, Big Mike. I wasn't criticizing the statue or its creator. Guess I was just wishing that the black man would have been seen as an equal and portrayed as such. 
The modelArcher Alexander (1828-1880?) was a former black slave who served as the model for the slave in the statue, variously known as Freedom Memorial and the Emancipation Memorial located in Lincoln Park.
UnchainedThe effect is that the Black man is rising up, as, if you look closely you see that his hand chains have been broken. To have him standing, shaking hands, would make it appear they'd just met.
L Peretti Still continues business in Park Square.The cigar factory from the photo is still open about a block from this statue 100+ years on as L.J. Peretti Tobbacconists.
(The Gallery, Boston, Civil War, DPC)

Sherman in Atlanta: 1864
Union soldiers on boxcars at railroad depot next to offices of the Atlanta Intelligencer during the city's ... Alternate view here . (The Gallery, Atlanta, Civil War, Geo. Barnard, Horses) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/31/2012 - 7:30pm -

Union soldiers on boxcars at railroad depot next to offices of the Atlanta Intelligencer during the city's occupation by General Sherman. View full size. Wet plate glass negative by George Barnard. Alternate view here.
(The Gallery, Atlanta, Civil War, Geo. Barnard, Horses)

Cobb's Hill: 1864
... came very close to capturing Petersburg and ending the Civil War, before being bottled up on the peninsula." Heroic work It is worth ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/14/2008 - 3:35am -

1864. "Bermuda Hundred, Virginia. Photographer [possibly Mathew Brady, next to the horse] at Butler's signal tower, Cobb's Hill, Appomattox River." Note the cloth-draped darkroom and developing chemicals in bottles on the grass. Wet plate glass negative, half of stereo pair. View full size.
Bermuda Hundred, VA - fascinating historyFrom official Virginia tourism web site (www.virginia.org):
"Bermuda Hundred was started in 1613, after the English settlers made peace with the Virginia natives. It was named after the traumatic shipwreck of the "Third Supply" bringing reinforcements to Virginia in 1609. The leaders of that expedition were shipwrecked in Bermuda and had to take their wrecked ship apart and build two smaller ships to finally get to Virginia. Bermuda Hundred was initially intended to include several "hundreds" upstream and downstream of the Appomattox River.The Bermuda settlements were attacked severely in 1622, when the natives abandoned their efforts at peaceful coexistence. Bermuda Hundred never gained prominence again until 1864 when a Union Army occupied it. The Federal troops came very close to capturing Petersburg and ending the Civil War, before being bottled up on the peninsula."
Heroic workIt is worth mentioning that a wet plate negative was quite literally that, a liquid silver-salt collodion emulsion first mixed by the photographer then "painted" evenly onto a large plate of glass, usually in the 11x14 range, all in utter darkness before being loaded into a light-tight film holder for immediate exposure. It was noxious, nerve-wracking work and the men who performed it in the field, like Brady's assistant Timothy O'Sullivan (who likely took this picture), really are unsung heros of Art and Science.
Army engineeringThe tower in this photo is a good example of the amazing work done by Army Engineers, using timber rather than sawn lumber. Bridges, railroad trestles, and fortifications had to be constructed quickly without modern power tools.
On the other hand, on the roof appears to be a door pressed into service to support a pole for an absent telegraph wire(?). Some of the sawn lumber appears to be the work of the 3 Stooges.
Wet plateWell, to be clear, a wet plate is first coated by pouring) with salted collodion (this can be done in daylight then submerged in silver nitrate solution. When it is taken out of the bath it has to be loaded into the camera wet plate back in darkness, exposed and then developed in darkness, washed and fixed. A lot of the civil war images were actually 5x8 inch stereo plates, other common sizes were whole-plate, half-plate or 8x10. 11x14 is rarer.
Wet Plate PhotographyThe detail on the full-size image is amazing.  I've been looking for a highly detailed collodion plate that includes a "what-is-it-wagon."  I am just getting into wet plate photography myself, having just taken a John Coffer workshop.   I'll have to link to your site.
Just a quick note on the wet plate process - the collodion itself could be flowed onto the plate in daylight and put in the silver nitrate tank (inside the darkbox set up).  Once sensitized, the plate was transferred to the plate holder for the camera.  The darkbox had a red window that allowed some visibility (and the haloids in silver nitrate were not sensitive to this color).
--- Bryan
Bermuda HundredNote the stonking big Petzval lens on the grass in the foreground with its lens board next to it.
(The Gallery, Civil War, Horses)

The Portal: 1864
... River, Virginia. Pontoon bridge across North Anna below railroad bridge where a portion of the 2nd Corps under Gen. Hancock crossed, ... as depicted below: (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Civil War, Timothy O'Sullivan) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2012 - 3:15pm -

May 1864. "North Anna River, Virginia. Pontoon bridge across North Anna below railroad bridge where a portion of the 2nd Corps under Gen. Hancock crossed, May 23d." Wet plate glass negative by Timothy H. O'Sullivan. View full size.
How're they biting?The man on the right appears to be fishing.  Soldiers always complain about the food in the mess hall.
II Corps Badge The fifth man from the left side of the photo standing on the bridge (wearing a 9-button shell jacket) clearly has a 2nd Corps badge on his forage cap. This was a trefoil as depicted below:
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Civil War, Timothy O'Sullivan)

Our Darling: 1914
... the advent of embalming – which was a by-product of the Civil War – it was normal for the family to be deeply involved in the preparation ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/03/2011 - 1:09pm -

Washington, D.C. "J.J. Eaglen." A death notice in the May 18, 1914, Washington Post records the passing of one "John A. Eaglen, 3 years, 1000 8th st. nw." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
Sad LossThere have been a few hard hitting photos posted but this one hit the hardest. Very sad.
In the weeds>> Then in 1943, for whatever reason, an application was filed to reinter the remains in Woodlawn Cemetery in Washington.
Woodlawn went into decline in the 1970s and was a ruin for many years - it's still in terrible shape (many stones down and broken, sections totally overgrown, etc.) but some efforts have been made to restore it in the last five years by a small nonprofit.
WonderingI wonder what carried off the poor child?  The open casket is compelling, somehow, sharing the loss the parents must have suffered.
Melancholy PrinceAnother of those pictures that speak volumes. 
Inconsolable GriefThere is nothing sadder or more heartbreaking than losing a blameless young child. His loved ones can never be the same people they were in the past as they are permanently, irreparably injured.  This photo reminds me of a sweet male cousin of mine, an only child and grandchild who was fatally hit by a car at age 7.  Anyone who has been touched by such a loss will never understand it or get over it.  This viewing appears to be in the boy's own home, which was the custom when I was young.  Even today, my heart aches for the people involved here.  My mom's mom had eight children but it was before vaccinations and penicillin and only four lived to adulthood.  Good night sweet prince.  R.I.P.
HeartbreakingMy ex and I often ride our bicycles past a cemetery out in the local Texas countryside. When we stopped to have a look around we were shocked to see how many graves (circa late 1800s) were the final resting place of small children.  I guess today we just take for granted that our children will have a long life.  Rest in peace little J.J. Eaglen.
Viewings at homeThe father of a close friend died about 1961 when my friend was about 12 years old. There was an open-casket wake held in the parlor of the family's farmhouse in Galena, Illinois, the local custom of the time. My friend said that after that profoundly sad experience, he never passed through the room again without recalling that final view of his beloved father.
Escape HatchI am glad to see there is a drop-down egress provided: just in case.
The Way It WasIt was the common practice to "wake the deceased" at home in the parlor. The advent of funeral "homes" or "parlors" gave rise to the term "living room" in houses.
[The notion that the dead were laid out in parlors while the bereaved congregated in the "living room" is a sort of etymological urban legend debunked here and here and many other places.  - Dave]
My son is 3This makes me cry.
John Alphonse Eaglen, son of J.J. Eaglen The Familysearch database returns records for the death certificate, permit for disinterment and reinterment of one John Alphonse (Alphonso) Eaglen. Like puzzle pieces, these records tell the story of a child born in 1911 that succumbed on May 16, 1914, at the age of 3 years, 5 months and 16 days.  The cause of death was measles, complicated by a heart condition.  He was buried in Sligo, Maryland.  Then in 1943, for whatever reason, an application was filed to reinter the remains in Woodlawn Cemetery in Washington. One of the records describes a John Alphonse Eaglen that seemed to fit the scenario described here in every way, except for his being labeled as "black." Then I found the Census record for his father, J.J. Eaglen, which lists him as Mulatto.
Color lines, even in deathWoodlawn is an African-American cemetery established in 1892. For whatever reason, that could explain the boy's 1943 disinterment and re-interment.
It would be nice if a Shorpyite living in the DC area could locate his grave there, to see if he is buried among other Eaglens. Who knows, maybe some of his African-American relatives wanted his remains moved there, to be close to family.
Postmortem PhotographyIt seems that taking pictures of deceased children was a common practice in years past. Vintage photo collections show many such photos.  It is perhaps less common a practice today now that most of us have and use cameras frequently and have taken pictures of the children before their now less frequent early death.  
That tiny sprigIn little John's right hand, the slightly wilting flowers suggest he had been placed there probably that morning. His mother very likely brushed his hair one last time. Did she say, "My Johnny, my dear sweet Johnny"? 
Although I hate to imagine it, his final days could not have been without suffering, made all the sadder by his total innocence. In some way the fact that we, strangers all, have gathered here to talk about him, with respect, is a memorial in some sense to his existence, a century later. Thank you, Dave, for making it possible.  
Home FuneralMy mom died six weeks ago of complications from Alzheimer's disease after living with my husband and me for three years.
With the help of a home funeral guide, we washed Mom's body and prepared it for visitation. She died on a Wednesday, and visitation was at our home one Thursday and Friday. Mom was in her bed in her bedroom.
We used dry ice to keep the body cool.
On Saturday morning the funeral director came to take Mom's body away for cremation.
Now that we have "done" one home funeral, I wouldn't want it any other way.
All the yearsIt's especially sad to think that this child we see deceased here in 1914 could conceivably still be alive if he'd been fortunate enough to live into old age. All those years he did not get to see.
Childhood MortalityIt's sobering to remember that the average American lifespan at that time was under 50 years. That didn't mean that people didn't live to ripe old age, they did. It means that many many more infants and children died then. Measles was often fatal, so was whooping cough, diphtheria, and a myriad of other "childhood diseases." 
Thank goodness for sanitation, clean water, and immunization.
On dying youngIn 1913 a typhoid fever epidemic in Central Pennsylvania took the lives of my mother's sister, Rose, at age 6, and their mother, age 29. Rose died 10 days after their mother.  My Mom was four. Her father and stepbrother contracted the disease but survived. In any photo of my Mom before that, she appeared quite happy, but in every subsequent photo throughout her childhood, she looked very sad. Here she is at about 15, looking reflective but ready for adulthood.
The "good old days" weren't that greatWhenever we feel inclined to gripe about how hard life is, we should take a look at pictures like this. This is a poignant reminder of how good we have things today.
In 1914, there were no immunizations for many of the childhood diseases that we seldom think about now. Even when I was a child in the 1950s, the risk of death from measles, smallpox, polio and other diseases was still a big concern for parents. The flu outbreak of 1918 claimed millions of people around the world. Now, you can get a flu shot just by walking into your local Walgreen's.
Adequate sanitary systems were not in place in many communities, either, resulting in cholera and typhus outbreaks.
From a purely technological perspective, this photo reminds us of the wealth of technology we have at our fingertips. Back then, most people did not have cameras and could not afford to go to a portrait studio. This may be one of the few photos this family had of their child. Post-mortem photography was not uncommon in the Victorian Age through the first part of the 20th century, even to the point of posing parents and siblings with the deceased.
On a side note, judging by the unusual construction of the casket--it looks to be made of plaster or plaster-covered wood--I am wondering if this was a display casket provided by the funeral home just for wakes.
Thanks to all the contributors to Shorpy that help to provide interesting--and sometimes sobering--glimpses into the past.
HeartbreakingI can't imagine the grief that comes with losing a child; this one spent over 3 years on earth. He had already developed a personality, had likes and dislikes, and his parents no doubt had visions of what he would be when he was older.  There is no sense to be found in such a loss.
His manner of death make me so grateful for public health and vaccines. 
"Living room" vs. "parlour"Thanks, Dave, for debunking a common urban legend. So many American urban legends about language are based on the assumption that every phrase in English arose in the US. 
Object LessonI hope that this ineffably sad photograph might serve as an object lesson for those fringe elements of our society who are opposed to vaccination. I have visited and photographed 19th Century children's graves in the West. One can notice evidence on the headstones of typhus epidemics and other preventable diseases, all within a short range of death dates.
"Sanitation, clean water, and immunization"Careful, Gary. Your triad of benefits that have ensured healthier living conditions could be viewed by many as "creeping nanny-state big government." 
Right up there with child labor laws, meat quality inspections, and railroad safety.
Measles and vaccinationI nearly died as a child from either German or red measles (I had both in one year). I recently had occasion to face off against one of these "childhood diseases don't kill" people. They can. they can also cause deafness and blindness in the unborn and in infants. In the case of chickenpox, which despite this idiot's assertion to the contrary, does not render you immune to shingles but is the direct cause of it.
The anti-immunization zealots have had no personal experience with these disease and fail to realize that they were eradicated for a reason. Because epidemics killed thousands of children (and many adults) and were the cause of subsidiary medical conditions like deafness. It is because of them that we are seeing a resurgence of measles again.
[Part of this stems from the erroneous notion that vaccinations somehow lead to autism. - Dave]
A darling boyI can feel the parents' grief all these years later.  God bless, darling John.  Rest in peace, precious one.
The Times They Are a-Changin'The type of casket seen here is a full couch model, meaning the entire body is seen, as opposed to just the upper portion.  It also has a drop front, which could be positioned to allow more of the body to be seen.  The casket itself would be made of metal or wood, and is covered with a textured or flocked fabric.  Some families would remove the plaque (in this case inscribed, “Our Darling”) as a keepsake from the funeral.
It is interesting to read children’s poetry from this era and note the number of references to death they include.  At this time, as ironic as it may sound, death was a part of living.  Today, for the most part, we have institutionalized death with people dying away from home, hooked up to numerous machines, and in a drug-induced state.  Rare, indeed, are the last words of the dying.
In this age of online communication and impersonalization, it is intriguing that a resurgence in home funerals is occurring, as noted by contributor Crystal’s own personal experience.  Before the advent of embalming – which was a by-product of the Civil War – it was normal for the family to be deeply involved in the preparation and burial of their loved ones.  Today we look at it as a morbid, perhaps even backwards or bizarre thing to do, but who to better care for a family member than the ones who love them the most?  And what better place to lie in state than the home they were so much a part of?
MeaslesOne of my aunts had German measles when pregnant in 1941. The doc told her the baby would be blind or deaf, and thank God he was born "only" with diminished hearing.  He died in 2006.  He was probably the best person I ever knew.  RIP
(The Gallery, D.C., Kids, Natl Photo)

Lafayette Lamb: 1898
... from his father Chancy. In the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, young Lafayette oversaw a fleet of the company's steamboats that was used ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/26/2013 - 9:55am -

1898. Winona, Minnesota. "Bridges over the Mississippi. Sternwheeler Lafayette Lamb." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Memories To MeI delivered many a railroad car from the Wisconsin side working as a brakeman for the BNSF in the 1970,s. The railroad swing bridge was destroyed by fire in the 1980's. The traffic bridge that replaced this one is in the process of being rebuilt with another one added. Great picture from a simpler time.
Minnesota VikingNice touch, the elk rack atop the Pilothouse.
The breakers!I like the pre-ice breakers for the railroad bridge pillars.  Never seen anything like that before.
Also, the railroad drawbridge looks structurally similar to the one still in use in Vancouver Washington on the BNSF, although this one is single main line.
Size MattersCaution: Rowboats are much larger than they appear. So large, that bridges swing out of the way for them.
Looks like the remains of the RR bridgeView Larger Map
One personsitting on what must be the world's largest park bench.
Lady in WhiteIt looks like there's a lady taking the air on the boiler deck aft. Maybe she's on her way to visit her cousin in Red Wing or Frontenac. The steamboat seems to be home-ported at LaCrosse, which the locals on that part of the river call God's Country.
Back when a bridge was a bridge.For thousands of years bridges have been a combination of art and engineering.  Many times, the character of a city was defined by its bridges.
It's only been in the last 50-60 years that bridges have become dull, boring affairs.
Lumber baron Lafayette Lamb (1846-1917)The namesake of the steamboat had inherited a saw mill company, C. Lamb & Sons of Clinton, Iowa, from his father Chancy. In the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, young Lafayette oversaw a fleet of the company's steamboats that was used for towing logging rafts down the Mississippi River to the mill. By the time of this photo, that part of the company's business had declined along with the supply of white pine timber floating down the River. By the time of Lafayette's death in 1917, the company's primary interest was a large saw mill in Charleston, Mississippi.   
The viewBefore the next new bridge (now) courtesy the USPS.
My humble burg!Nice to see some love for our beautiful town. The section of the railroad bridge is indeed still there, and as mentioned, plans are underway for a new interstate bridge.
I'm continually fascinated with the amazing old photos of this town, and how much it's changed. Many beautiful old buildings are no longer here, replaced by parking lots or newer structures that lack the character and feel that the old ones have. Guess that's not too uncommon, but a shame nonetheless.
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC)

Culpeper: 1862
August 1862. "Culpeper Court House, Virginia. Railroad depot." Photographs from the main Eastern theater of war, Bull Run, second Battle of Bull Run. Wet plate negative, half of stereo ... missing a board on the right. - Dave] (The Gallery, Civil War, Railroads, Timothy O'Sullivan) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/25/2008 - 8:58pm -

August 1862. "Culpeper Court House, Virginia. Railroad depot." Photographs from the main Eastern theater of war, Bull Run, second Battle of Bull Run. Wet plate negative, half of stereo pair, by Timothy O'Sullivan. View full size.
Quality, Film Plane, Age.You can tell the film wasn't completely on-plane if you look at the out of focus steeple next to the in-focus steeple.
That is a fantastically high-quality photograph for 1862.
I'd almost question this photograph was from 1862 if it weren't for the telegraph pole and accompanying insulators that match for that period.
["Film" did not exist in 1862. - Dave]
TrackworkI find the track work in this photo very interesting.
Seems to be very rough in comparison with modern workmanship. No wonder when reading of railroads during the War Between the States, the schedules were very slow and iffy. The switches are interesting too.  Stub type with a rather novel switch stand.
Three-Way Stub SwitchPhillip is correct about that stub switch.  Rail fans go crazy over these.  This one is even rarer, as it is a three-way stub switch.  (Drool, drool.)

Image QualityWet-plate collodion photography, especially glass plate negatives, are considered to provide the clearest images providing in some cases far more detail than digital. The out of focus effect is you observe at the edge of the image is called "bokeh" and caused by the fall off of the petzval-type lens. 
A wet-plate artist would have to make his own "film" for each image. Pouring collodion on a glass plate and sensitizing it in a sliver nitrate bath before exposing in in the camera. Then he would bring it back to his dark tent and develop and fix it. All of this had to be done within 10 to 30 minutes before the plate dried. 
U RailNote the ends of hollow "U Rail" showing. One of the predecessors of the modern "T Rail," and a big improvement over strap rail-- strips of iron nailed to wood rails that frequently tore loose and came up through the wooden car floors ("a snakehead").
Brickwork patternI can think of no explanation for the light-dark pattern on the brickwork facing us in the center.  The lower inverted V suggests an older structure since removed.  But that theory is nixed by the identical coloration in the isolated band above.  I'm stumped.
[It's a shadow cast by the eave. Which is missing a board on the right. - Dave]
(The Gallery, Civil War, Railroads, Timothy O'Sullivan)

Bridge Out: 1865
... 1865. "Richmond, Va. Ruins of Richmond & Petersburg Railroad bridge." Span over the James River, burned by Confederate troops ... in Richmond in '65. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Civil War, Railroads, Richmond) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/31/2013 - 1:24pm -

April 1865. "Richmond, Va. Ruins of Richmond & Petersburg Railroad bridge." Span over the James River, burned by Confederate troops before the advancing Federal Army. Wet plate negative by Alexander Gardner. View full size.
Remains of the supports left of route 60.View Larger Map
The Rail Linehere is the Richmond & Petersburg. The brick structure the left is presumably the burned-out paper mill; to the right and behind the photographer was the railroad depot. This is less than a half-mile from the (then and now) State Capitol, but a bit farther because of the need to find a bridge across the James River and Kanawha Canal, that passed between.
Well builtWell built, main arterial bridge support, I'm surprised it was never rebuilt for rail use.
The Great ConflagrationLooking at this one gets an idea of the mayhem and terror of a city in its death throes. Put this image with the many others taken of the industrial district and put them alongside those of Berlin or Dresden in 1945 and you can barely tell them apart. Although the occupation of Richmond was nowhere near as bad as was expected, the night the Confederate Army abandoned it held as much confusion and fear as any city in history left to hordes of invaders. Besides the columns of troops marching out, the streets were filled with half starved women and children looting government storehouses, unemployed prostitutes (at least temporarily), street urchins, deserters and gangs of released prisoners from the penitentiary stealing from everybody and drinking from the street gutters the whiskey poured out by the provost guards. During all this, munitions dumps were exploding and raining shrapnel all over the place. Several accounts from soldiers leaving the city recall the sight of the burning city and one described it as being "at once, both terrible and sublime". Another compared it to Dante's Inferno. By the grace of God, the yankee "hordes" were not as bad as feared and order was quickly brought to the city. But we have to remember that on that night, the citizens and soldiers (many of whom left loved ones behind) didn't know that. They didn't know that a day later Lincoln would tell the general commanding the occupying troops to "...let them up easy, General, let them up easy."
A Couple near the riverDid anyone else notice the couple sitting near the river (approximately 25 feet or so) to the left of the burned out bridge?
[Looks like three people. -tterrace.]
Re: A Couple Near the RiverIt's very possible that they are paroled Confederate soldiers wondering how to get across so they can go home. Or they could be displaced workers from one of the mills or the Armory. There were a lot of people and soldiers from other parts of the state and other states as well as foreigners cast adrift in Richmond in '65.
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Civil War, Railroads, Richmond)

Bridge Out: 1864
... Destroyed bridge of the Richmond & Fredericksburg Railroad." Wet plate glass negative, left half of stereo pair, by Timothy H. ... Library of Congress. View full size. (The Gallery, Civil War, Railroads, Timothy O'Sullivan) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/27/2008 - 12:15pm -

May 25, 1864. "North Anna River, Virginia. Destroyed bridge of the Richmond & Fredericksburg Railroad." Wet plate glass negative, left half of stereo pair, by Timothy H. O'Sullivan. Library of Congress. View full size.
(The Gallery, Civil War, Railroads, Timothy O'Sullivan)

Nashville: 1864
Fortified railroad bridge across the Cumberland River at Nashville, 1864. "Continuing his ... on December 15-16, in the most complete victory of the war. If the date borne on this photograph is correct, it was taken in the ... the articulated bridge. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Civil War, Geo. Barnard, Horses, Nashville) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/07/2011 - 8:29pm -

Fortified railroad bridge across the Cumberland River at Nashville, 1864. "Continuing his policy of the offensive at any cost, Gen. John B. Hood brought his reduced army before the defenses of Nashville, where it was overthrown by Gen. George H. Thomas on December 15-16, in the most complete victory of the war. If the date borne on this photograph is correct, it was taken in the course of the battle." View full size. Wet collodion glass stereograph by George N. Barnard.
Swing Bridge  Looking carefully, this bridge rotates at the center to allow river traffic. Quite possible this was mechanized with steam power. Since Nashville was always a rail center and establish rail road beds remain for a long time, I would say this grade is the same one that is in use today and passes just North of Capitol Hill and just south of the Bicentennial park and Farmer's Market. The present RR bridge is much higher so no need for the articulated bridge.
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Civil War, Geo. Barnard, Horses, Nashville)

Out and About: 1905
... Looking at the kids crawling over the gun (looks like a Civil War era smooth-bore) reminds me of family trips to Gettysburg, where my ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/30/2012 - 10:39pm -

Cleveland, Ohio, circa 1905. "Public Square. Lyceum Theatre and Old Stone Church in background; people waiting for streetcar." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
And there doesn't seem to beA bare head in sight.  
Hats, etc.Not a bare head anywhere.  Look at the variety in the men's hats. And there's the one woman with the classic hourglass figure on the right. 
Looking at the kids crawling over the gun (looks like a Civil War era smooth-bore) reminds me of family trips to Gettysburg, where my brothers and I would crawl over the cannons and try to shoot each other.
Public SquareOne of the best spots to spend a warm summer day in downtown Cleveland!
The Old Stone Church was cleaned up back in the late 90's. The rest of the buildings in this pic are long gone (the theater was torn down around 1913).
Safe PlaceThey apparently didn't need a cop in this area with the cannon nearby! I've always heard you didn't lock your doors and people felt safer back then. Now I see why!
Are they waiting for the church to open?They're a pretty serious bunch. I think they could do with a visit from Keith.
Are they waiting for the church to open?They're a pretty serious bunch. I think they could do with a visit from Keith.
Ominous cannonI would like to see what the scene looked like a few minutes later, after the kids fired the cannon!
How not to catch a streetcarThey may be waiting for a streetcar, but the streetcar is waiting on the other side until the guys with that cannon go away.
Domestic terrorism!To the left, a group of young anarchists prepare to inflict mass casualties with a pilfered cannon. 
Street View still shows people waiting for public transportation at the exact same spot:
View Larger Map
Keith's for LaughsAnyone know the story behind that sign? (Across the street on the trash bin?)
[Keith's was a national chain of vaudeville theaters. - Dave]
Ka-boomLooks like those boys are planning to blow up the streetcar when it arrives. They probably have done this many other times in their imaginations.
Odd linesWhat are those angular lines on the side of the American Trust building?
[Looks like ductwork. - Dave]
Well turned outThis certainly is a tastefully attired group of people, not a slob in the entire group.  Even the newsboys (who were usually relatively poor) are fully and properly dressed.  
And the fire came downAccording to its Web site, the Old Stone Church endured its first fire one hundred years to the day before I was born. What a great picture.
How to sell more papersBlow up the streetcar. Crafty lads.
Public TransportationSome of the dapper people in the first photo are probably still standing in the second waiting for the train.
SeventeenThe young girl to the right side with the book in her hand, looking off toward the right and the young man with the flowers look like characters right from the pen of Booth Tarkington.  I wonder if they met?
Windows On the WorldThe Pennsylvania Line or Liner Company has windows on the 9th floor front of the American Trust Building advertising their business. However in the heat of the 1905  Cleveland Summer they elected to open some of them at varying levels negating any message they were thinking of sending to the viewing public.
Pennsylvania LinesThe windows spell PENNSYLVANIA LINES; the railroad's logo (a large P atop an interlocking RR on a keystone background) is on the two outermost windows.
This gentlemanhas been kept waiting entirely too long.
(The Gallery, Cleveland, DPC, Streetcars)

Aunt Charlotte: 1900
... story. She is old enough to have been born before the Civil War. She might have traveled North on the Underground Railroad...or this might ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/20/2012 - 11:06am -

Circa 1900. Somewhere in the Eastern U.S. "Aunt Charlotte." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
PatienceI knew it might take a while, but I knew that eventually someone would answer my question!  Well Done!  The power of Shorpy.
Brings back memoriesI was born in the late 40s, and don't recall any bull wagons, but remember the sun bonnets and capes well, along with old men with whiskers. This picture could well have come from the post WWII period in the South.
Mittens!I wonder what her oxcart errand was.  
In any case, she's got a gaze of experience that commands respect, and truly delightful mittens done stranded knitting. Although there are tons of patterns out there for mittens done in various geometrics, I've never seen a pair like Aunt Charlotte's. 
Wordless WonderAnother picture that must have a real story behind it!  Nice whiskers! Any idea at all about where it was taken. That background should be a clue to someone.
"Aunt" CharlotteA reminder of a time when black people over a certain age were commonly called "Aunt" or "Uncle." A practice whose legacy can still be seen at the supermarket, in brands like Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben's.
Which might seem quaint or endearing, but if you weren't old enough to be an Aunt or Uncle, you were addressed by the white folks as "boy" or "girl." I can remember my grandfather, back in the 1940s, calling middle-aged railroad porters "boy." Today we might say "pardon me," or "hey, buddy." Back then it was "Boy, can you direct me to the ticket counter?"
Fort Monroe, Hampton Virginia
From the book Views of Fortress Monroe and Vicinity, published 1892.
A modern day photo of the fort shows the wall and moat still intact.
I'd love to know her story.She is old enough to have been born before the Civil War. She might have traveled North on the Underground Railroad...or this might actually be the South Eastern USA. Either way, she lived through a momentous time.
Mighty punyThat ox doesn't look well at all. His eyes are shut, and his hindquarters are a rack of bones. His back is humped up, and he's standing with his back knees propped against each other. He looks like he could fall over at any minute, poor old critter.
Officer housing at Fort MonroeThere is a brick building very much like the structure here across the moat from Fort Monroe, Virginia.
Old Ways Die HardIt had to be in the late 1960s or early 1970s. My granddad, a lifetime Angeleño, asked me to hand his gas money to "that colored boy over there." 
I saw a middle-aged man & was temporarily perplexed by hearing him called "boy."
Remember, this was LA in the days of Shaft & Mod Squad.
Found her!Fort Monroe, Virginia. Auntie C. seems to have been something of a postcard celebrity.
Wide openI often think of how wide open (i.e., agricultural) the landscape was in those days.  While this picture feels like it's in the middle of nowhere, it could perhaps be from the outskirts of some major city.  Either way, the world must have seemed much larger then.
Our newest national monumentReuters - November 1, 2011 - President Barack Obama created the first national monument of his presidency on Tuesday, signing a proclamation to preserve a former Army fort that was a safe haven for slaves during the Civil War...
...In 1861, three escaped slaves were given safe haven at the fort that managed to stay under Union control despite being in a Confederate state. They were declared by Union Major General Benjamin Butler as "contrabands of war" and were not returned to their owner.
According to the Fort Monroe Authority, 10,000 slaves subsequently fled there and were given protection, helping prompt President Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation declaring all slaves free in the states rebelling against the federal government...
Jaime Vue? Does anyone know her true calling, other than posing for postcards?
(The Gallery, Animals, DPC)

Park Hotel: 1905
... "tenting tonight on the old camp grounds" during the Civil War. Gable Room These old buildings (of course it wasn't old then) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/20/2012 - 4:21pm -

Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, circa 1905. "Park Hotel." An interesting cast of characters in less than parklike surroundings. Detroit Publishing. View full size.
VacancyThe Soo still has a lot of old buildings, but this one was torn down in 1972. In the early 1900s, most people came to the Soo via ship and occasionally rail, and most if not all hotels were down by the river. Today there are only a few still hanging on for the tourists, and most motels are franchises up on the business spur near the highway and fast food. 
Grain Belt export?Seems a long way from home in Minneapolis for 1905.
[Minneapolis Brewing Company operated a regional network of brewhouses, bottling plants and storage depots. By the turn of the century, Grain Belt could be had from Michigan to Montana. - Dave]
That hot, stuffy gable roomIf it's not a "box room" (the name is self-explanatory), it might well be a room for servants, cooks, and/or staff. The rooms closest to the roof are always the least desirable, and thus relegated (even today) to the help. After all, the workers aren't supposed to be in their rooms very much anyway!
What I'm wondering about is the collection of courtly, retired, mustachioed gentlemen on the porch. In the winter, would they gather in a public parlor with a coal stove? They all look as if they could easily reminisce about the cold and muddy bivouacs they endured "tenting tonight on the old camp grounds" during the Civil War.
Gable RoomThese old buildings (of course it wasn't old then) always have what I call "fun" or "mysterious" rooms jutting up out of them that make me wish I knew what they were like inside. In this one it's is the gable room -- that's where I would want to stay if in fact it's a used room and not just a decorative add-on.  There can't be much of an attic because the rest of the roof is flat.
Transfer? From what? To where?Now here's a picture full of questions. I see two very proper ladies in waiting standing next to one or two gentlemen who "moved." One shoe shine man. Three newsies and one non-newsie. Five gents on the porch. Three drivers and four and a half horses. What I'd like to know is what kind of "transfer" is indicated by the sign over the ladies and the printing on the sides of the coaches. I see rails in the street but no overhead wires. Maybe for horse drawn rail cars? (There is definitely horse evidence between the rails.) Or maybe it's a steam railroad? Have the ladies been brought to this point by one of the transfer coaches and now await a train? Looks like there are short stairs midway down the hotel's hallways where the building addition starts, as the windows don't match up. Add a "grain belt" sign, a mailbox, a fireplug, a decrepit bill on the "telly-pole," the electrified transfer sign, and you have a fascinating scenario. The only thing we don't see is the photographer. Who was he and why was he taking the picture?
[There is a big thick streetcar wire overhead. The sign says FREE EAGLE LIVERY TRANSFER (scroll up). The photo is one of many thousands made by Detroit Publishing Company for use as postcards and prints. - Dave]
Here It IsI like the sign across the middle of the street that helps you locate the Park Hotel.  From the position of the sign, I'd presume that the majority of folks are heading there from the left side of the picture. Interesting.
Soo Memories, NOTFunny - I lived in the Soo from '67 to '70 and drank in a hole-in-the-wall bar right next to where Google says the Park Hotel was, but I have no recollection of it. Maybe I should have drunk less.
Then again, the Soo was pretty down at the heels back then and the hotel may have been just another derelict building.
The Eagle Suffers Little Birds to SingThe sign says EAGLE LIVERY TRANSFER.  The wagons belong to the Eagle Transfer Company, who held a concession with Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway.
It might not look parklike to us, but the camera was on the edge of a nicely landscaped park overlooking the locks.  Plenty of shots exist on Library of Congress site.
Acme Inc.That phone pole looks like one of Wile E. Coyote's props, cocked to flatten the Road Runner. Of course that's not how things will turn out.
The hotelIt's down at the end of Lonely Street, or was that the Heartbreak?
Much in need of a First Class shoe shineEspecially with all the mud, etc., on that street. I shudder to think how shoes shined in a Second Class Manner would turn out!
Ghosts of years pastI like the ghostly shoe by the shoe shine sign, very apropos and there are two apparations beside the ladies. I think this should give us pause to slow down in life and watch for photographers so that we don't end up as a blur in the background in the future.
Back in '71I was stationed at nearby Kincheloe A.F.B. My buddies and I spent many an evening "painting the town", mosquitoes and snow permitting. I'd sure like to know exactly where this building was so I could search my memories. If it was near the locks and was indeed still standing in 1971 I might remember having seen it.
[The Park Hotel was at the southeast corner of Douglass Street (later Osborn Boulevard) and West Portage Avenue, according to this book. - Dave]
Transfer LineI'm not familiar with the situation in Sault Sainte Marie, but "transfer" lines almost always referred to omnibus services that ran between the railroad depot and local hotels.  The far was usually 25 cents round trip, and typically a traveler was given a token or ticket to use for the return trip back to the railroad depot after his business was done in town.
(The Gallery, DPC)

Vicksburg Panorama: 1909
... how much of the construction along the waterfront is post-war. Vicksburg experienced quite a boom in population growth between 1860 and ... Falls City are buildings in disrepair, could they be civil war casualties? [From 50 years earlier? That's fire damage. - Dave] ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/25/2014 - 11:33am -

The Mississippi River circa 1909. "Vicksburg waterfront." A panorama made from three 8x10 glass negatives (the widest image, pixel-wise, that Shorpy has ever posted -- be sure to scroll all the way over to the right). The nine-story skyscraper is the First National Bank. Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
PanoramaI know of one panorama William Henry Jackson composed for Leadville, CO, although I don't know if it was while he worked for DPC. His "stitching" technique involved three large prints on easels, which he re-photographed. I found the process documented in a series of photos in the Denver Public Library.
Chinese groceryWhat a fascinating image. An unexpected surprise was the "Quong Yulin & Co." grocery, a few blocks away from "Sol. Fried" store. 
Wikipedia currently lists Vicksburg at less than 1 percent Asian. Vicksburg's 165-year old Synagogue now has just 20 members.
I wonder how much of the construction along the waterfront is post-war. Vicksburg experienced quite a boom in population growth between 1860 and 1870.
Earlier components?I seem to recall parts of this (great) panorama as previous Shorpy photos.  Can someone post links to them?
[One photo. Our Search box would take you here. Waiting in the wings, there is at least one other version of this scene taken the same day, for a total of three. - Dave]
Remarkable detailThis is a remarkable image. I wonder if Detroit Publishing produced any more of these stitched multi-image panoramas.
[Click the "Panoramas" link above the photo. The stitching is all done by me, and Photoshop.  - Dave]
No Horseless CarriagesTypically photos of this vintage display horse & buggies AND early automobiles.  Was Vicksburg behind the times or could it be the photo pre-dates 1909?  Either way, this a facinating snapshot of a moment in time along the Mississippi River.
[The First National Bank building was completed in 1907. - Dave]
Seek and you shall findWay on the right, a Coca-Cola sign.
[Actually there are three. - Dave]
Very DirtyAn amazing photo. The thing I am thinking about is that all the ladies seem to be wearing long white dresses and the streets appear to be all dirt. Their clothing must have gotten filthy in a very short time from simply walking the streets. I am also loving the Steam Boat Exchange Saloon, I wonder what curious sights were beyond those doors ?? 
Merchants DespatchWell weathered.
Above the Falls Cityare buildings in disrepair, could they be civil war casualties?
[From 50 years earlier? That's fire damage. - Dave]
Coca-Cola and VicksburgVicksburg was home to the Biedenharn Candy Company, the first bottler of Coca-Cola. Although the drink was created in 1886, it was sold mainly at druggists and soda fountains. Biedenharn started bottling the drink in 1894.
Did the channel change?I notice from the satellite view that the channel fronting most of the city is now the Yazoo River, not that there is much of a waterfront left. Such a channel change is something that General U.S. Grant unsuccessfully tried to engineer in 1862-1863, but it looks like nature finally did what 19th Century military engineering could not, as nature always does.
Many of these buildings remainHaving lived in Vicksburg, I can tell you that while a number of the buildings shown along the Mississippi riverfront have been torn down and replaced, still, many of the buildings pictured in this panorama are still there, being re-purposed with new businesses and tenants through the years.
On Washington Street, the street the First National Bank building is on (still there, its main floor used still as a bank with professional offices on the other floors), many of these buildings still remain. You'll notice the many steeples and cupolas on the skyline.
Going from left to right, the first steeple is that of Christ Episcopal Church (still there); the two-storied brick building with the cupola right on the river (with train cars pictured in front) is the old L&N Railroad Depot, now a Visitor Center. Atop the hill, the building with columns on all sides and the cupola on top is the old Warren County Courthouse (built in the late 1850s), now the Old Courthouse Historical Museum. Right across the street from the Old Courthuse, you see the  "steeple" of the City Jail. Past the First National Bank Building, going east up the hill is the tower of the Carroll Hotel (a picture of which was posted on Shorpy several years ago -- The Carroll was torn down sometime in the late '40s or early '50s). 
The church that is pictured was St. Paul's Catholic, destroyed in the early 1950s when a tornado did a lot of damage as well as killing a number of people. A new church was built on the site in the 1950s. The squareish tower is the top of the Army Corps of Engineers headquarters, now used as the HQ of the Mississippi River Commission. The tall steeple at the left is Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. At the extreme left, the top two floors of the light-colored brick building (another skyscraper of five stories!) was a popular department store known as The Valley, which did business until sometime in the late 1970s or early '80s. The building has been converted into condos.
At this time, the downtown streets of Vicksburg were not dirt but were paved with brick. The streets going east, up the bluffs from the river were (and still are) paved with cobblestones in order that vehicles can get some traction going up and down. When I started driving as a teenager in the 1960s, I was told that if you could learn to drive on the hilly streets of Vicksburg -- in a car with a standard transmission -- you could drive anywhere!
Alice Used to be FrankThe sternwheel packet Alice B Miller, seen here to the right, was built in 1904 at Jefferson, Indiana, as the Frank B. Hayne.  She became Alice in 1908 and met her demise by fire in Vicksburg in 1915.  Source: University of Wisconsin LaCrosse, Murphy Library.
Superb, engrossing imageFascinating - rewards hours of scrutiny! Just wanted to say a sincere thank you for putting this one together and sharing it with us.
Depot at VicksburgThis view shows the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad (Y&MV) depot, not the L&N.
Great panos!Thanks for the link to the panoramas you've stitched. I now have to look forward to hours in the time machine.
(Panoramas, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads, Vicksburg)

Back From Cuba: 1898
... his father before him served with the regiment during the Civil War. When they shipped home from Cuba the were landed at Montauk, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/02/2013 - 9:36am -

Long Island, New York, circa 1898. "Boys of the 71st N.Y. at Montauk Point after return from Cuba." Detroit Publishing Company glass negative. View full size.
Half in HavanaThe guy with the knife looks like his mind hasn't quite made it back from Cuba yet, if ever.
Granddad in the 71stMy grandfather served in Cuba with the 71st and his father before him served with the regiment during the Civil War.
When they shipped home from Cuba the were landed at Montauk, quarantined  to recover from various diseases contracted in service before being allowed to enter a homecoming event in New York City. The were sent home on a special Long Island Railroad train after some weeks.
A similar group picture with him was on my grandfather's parlor mantel back in the 1940s. 
In camp before shipping out to Cuba they use to shout "Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain" to build fighting spirit. They had black powder .45-70 Springfield rifles, a fairly new issue item to them, as they had used .50-70 Remingtons until about six months before the War.
"A splendid little war" - NOTThe scowls on the volunteers' faces are understandable. In the Spanish-American War the 71st NY was poorly trained, poorly armed, and (most notably) poorly led. When they were not stuck for days in malarial settings waiting to get to or from Cuba, some of their officers were leading them into dead ends during the war's greatest land battle.  As Governor Teddy Roosevelt would write of the rank-and-file in 1899 when approving an inquiry's findings of incompetence by several senior officers during that battle, "save when paralyzed by bad leadership they were as able as they were eager to do honor to the glorious traditions of the American volunteer service."  
Spanish American War riflesAnonymous Tipster mentioned that his grandfather's unit was using the .45-70 Springfield rifles. That was the 1888 Springfield with the combined bayonet and cleaning rod. Most Guard units were equipped with that rifle while most regular units were equipped with the Krag-Jorgenson, arguably the worst rifle that the US Army was ever equipped with. It was slower to load than the Mauser rifle that the Spanish were equipped with and had a lower velocity bullet. In the assault on Santiago, the Spanish defenders numbered about 750; they inflicted 1,400 casualties (killed or wounded) on the Americans who had 6,600 troops and was supported by artillery and Gatling guns. That's a 21.2% casualty rate.
Coming of AgeThese guys appear to be much older that the WW2/Korean Conflict/Vietnam Era GIs. Was it more of a profession then? Were they hold overs from the post Civil War years? Or did they just age more quickly?
The Bugs of WarThe National Guard militias of various states mustered and trained far more troops than the Government needed (or wanted), and many soldiers found themselves shipped to camps in the deep South, Florida or Hawaii, where they collapsed in the heat, were eaten alive by insects and fell victim to typhus and like diseases from the miserable water supply. More soldiers were felled by disease than bullets.
Mmmm Lunch!I wonder how old that piece of hardtack is that the one fellow is chewing on.  I've read that some Spanish American War hardtack was actually stamped "Remember the Maine." Another fellow is holding his mess knife like a weapon. I assume it's a mess knife, since a third fellow is holding a mess kit.    
 Krag-Jorgenson rifleThe Krag was by far not the worst weapon used by the US. While it was shortlived, it gave good service, and was a favorite of the Army shooting teams who BTW hated the 1903 Springfield when it was first introduced. What killed the Krag was the fact that it could not use a charger clip, and the action was not as strong as the Mauser.
(The Gallery, DPC, S-A War)

Detroit River: 1900
... Dali's "Soft Construction with Baked Beans (Premonition of Civil War)"? Wow This photo is incredible. Very alive This ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/02/2012 - 3:18pm -

Circa 1900. "Car ferry 'Transport' entering slip, Detroit River." Railcar steamer on an icy, windy day. Detroit Publishing Company glass negative. View full size.
Brrr.Great Photo!  Truly captures the feel of winter yet to come. I have to have a cup of cocoa after looking at it!
Re:Brrr.My sentiments exactly.  It's a great photo of something I hate (Winter).
Two thoughts:1. You mean this isn't a Delano?
2. Does this remind anyone else of Dali's "Soft Construction with Baked Beans (Premonition of Civil War)"? 

WowThis photo is incredible.
Very aliveThis photo is very dynamic and alive. Love it.
Ferry 'cross the DetroitThe Grand Trunk was still running railroad ferries that looked a whole lot like this, if not this one, across the Detroit River until 1975. I rode on one of these once when I was a kid, because I had an uncle who worked for the line. It was old, loud, shook like hell, and since it was November, was good and cold.
Greetings from DetroitYou can almost feel the arctic air and the sting of icy droplets on your face as the wind blows across the water. Definitely not a pix that would be used by the local chamber of commerce.
Rib freezing coldFrom 1953 to 1970 I lived on Grosse Ile. In winter the chill from the river would go right through your clothes to your ribs. Yes, there is a reason millions of people live in Southern California.
Eek! I'm freezing!Amazing how this photo evokes chills in my bones!  
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads)

Mourning McKinley: 1901
... to figure it out--I was born there in 1950. Dating to the Civil War era, the hospital moved in the 1950s to larger quarters in Northeast. The ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/03/2021 - 10:29am -

Washington, D.C. "View from Randall School of H Street S.W., between Half & First Streets, in 1901 showing coal yard and old homes near railroad station. Houses have McKinley memorials. Portrait of President William McKinley draped in black is visible on the house on the left. A flag is at half mast on the right." Along with at least two other McKinley portraits. 8x10 inch glass negative, D.C. Street Survey Collection. View full size.
Oddly lonelySuch a stark contrast exists between the pretty house with delicate embellishments casting lacy shadows -- the two older folk porch sitting on an early autumn afternoon; the younger woman dressed like an Old West frontier female standing by, arms crossed; the hatted child playing at the edge of the sidewalk -- and the rest of the landscape, which appears suspended in a dusty, lonely languor.
McKinley's destinyThe assassination of William McKinley made Theodore Roosevelt President at the age of 42. When TR became Vice President earlier that same year, his friend Charles G. Washburn remarked: "I would not like to be in McKinley's shoes. He has a man of destiny behind him."
Buffalo / DallasI was 7 when President Kennedy died. I never hear mention of Dallas without thinking of his assassination. I've always wondered, did people who were alive when McKinley died have similar associations with Buffalo, where he was assassinated? 
TRElsewhere in the city, "that damned cowboy" Teddy Roosevelt has just become the new President. 
All the houses with TepeesI had always assumed that the little turrets, or cones on the corners of houses were purely for appearance. I wonder whether they also played a structural purpose since more than two dozen of them are visible in the picture.
McKinley's DeathWhen he died President McKinley was widely and deeply mourned. The trappings of official and Victorian mourning with black crape and formal mourning attire were everywhere. But so also were touching demonstrations by simple people throughout the country where public assemblies and special services in churches were held. The route of his funeral train was lined by ordinary working class people standing shoulder to shoulder with the well off and powerful. People placed coins and flowers on the train tracks and kept the flattened remnants as mementos. At almost every stage of the journey local bands appeared playing the hymn "Nearer My God to Thee," a popular hymn and Mr. McKinley's favorite long before it became associated with the Titanic disaster. McKinley was a deeply religious man and according to popular legend (disputed) his last words were from the opening verse of the hymn. 
Here is a link to some rare film footage of the official ceremonies and funeral procession. https://youtu.be/gTQrpsZ3tQA
LOCIs that the Library of Congress in the distance on the left?
Ballast = coalI believe we're looking at a coal dealer. Note that some of the bays are divided so the coal can be sorted as to lump size and possibly some choice Anthracite in there.
Seems to be a small cart-ramp extending over yet more bays below.
Displaying FlagsFlags are flown at half mast aboard ships. On land they are flown at half staff.
Jefferson BuildingThe partially visible large building in the upper left of the image is southeast corner of the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, which was completed four years before the image was taken.
Lehigh ValleyThe elevated rail arrangement and piles of ballast in the center-right of the photo remind me of all the comments and speculations last week with regard to  Earth Movers: 1901.
Building IDI'm curious about the complex of large white (at least in this picture) buildings in the upper right.  Can we identify that?
It's on the MapGoats of Venus has indeed got it right. [As does the photo caption, which calls it a coal yard - Dave] A look at a 1904 Sanborn Fire Insurance map shows this to be the Allegheny Coal Co. The map clearly shows the hard and soft coal trestles as well as the other structures on the site. Even more fascinating, it matches up perfectly with the houses in the image (facing H Street) and accurately shows their construction, with the pink color representing brick and yellow being frame. Even the 2-story frame porch on the house in the foreground is shown on the map as well as the split brick and frame construction of the first house around the corner on Half Street.
Building ID FoundAfter much sleuthing, including trying to get the right perspective using old DC maps, I can positively identify the large white building in the upper right as being the “old” Providence Hospital located at the time at 2nd & D Streets SE on Capitol Hill (see the image in the plaque below). 
I’m a bit embarrassed it took me so long to figure it out--I was born there in 1950. Dating to the Civil War era, the hospital moved in the 1950s to larger quarters in Northeast. The buildings in the photo were razed and site became Providence Park, which still exists today. Incidentally, a number of previously published Shorpy photos were taken around the same time frame from the roof of the hospital, including several pointed back in the general direction of the Randall School—the reverse of where we’re looking from in the photo above.
The fall of a sparrowThe prominent group of structures at 2 o'clock is the old Providence Hospital complex. It's a park now.
(The Gallery, D.C., D.C. Street Survey, Railroads)

High Bridge Depot: 1907
... suspension bridge. But that project got cancelled by the Civil War. (And that's probably a good thing, since I don't think suspension bridges ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/06/2012 - 4:14pm -

Circa 1907. "High Bridge station, High Bridge, Kentucky." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
The spur best not takenDon't think I want to be switched onto that spur to the left.  I wonder if there was originally an incline to move materials up the mountain?
High on High BridgeOne of the barely remembered memories I have of University of Kentucky college life in the early 70s was walking out on High Bridge at night while, well, pretty darn high.  Apparently, this was a popular stunt.  Four or five of us thought this would be a good idea at the time.  Until the train lights and whistle kicked in. 
Thanks to Shorpy for getting me thinking of how a God knows how many car freight train blowing past you at night and close enough to reach out and touch feels like from the late winter of early 1973. 
Mr. White HatJust had a brilliant idea.
Never Saw This BeforeIf you go to High Bridge, KY on Google Earth, there is a full three dimensional rendition of the present-day bridge.  No station, though.
Signal smorgasbordA train crew would have to be alert to the various signals on display here. On the depot, above the bay window are the signals that alert the crew that train orders from the dispatcher need to be received. Across the tracks between the depot and turnout is a block signal that informs a train crew about what is ahead of them, or possibly informs them if they are to take siding here. And just to the right of the bridge is a Ball type of signal that may be part of the regular block signal system or one that assures the train crew that all is well on the bridge, or it is one that stops all trains if activated by a maintenance crew that would have work to perform on the bridge.  
Why the NameBuilt to cross Stating the Obvious Creek.
Stay behind the yellow line!As an Amtrak agent for 23 years, I can say with certainty that standing as close to the track as possible while a train approaches is an obsession with the public.  I've had several hundred people standing on a platform while a train was bearing down, all pressing each other as close to the tracks as they could.  It scares employees to death, especially engineers.  They would not be able to stop if someone fell off the curb, and then everybody would get to see how sausage is made.  You just hope and pray that if it ever happens, it won't be a child.
The towersAs you might have guessed, originally this was planned to be a Roebling suspension bridge.  But that project got cancelled by the Civil War.  (And that's probably a good thing, since I don't think suspension bridges of that era were very good for railroads.)
[More here.]
High Bridge SignWhat are the two numbers on the sides of the High Bridge sign? One reads "CIN 100.3" and the other reads "CHA 234.8." Thanks.
[Distances to Cincinnati, Ohio and Chattanooga, Tennessee.]
Pedestrians Welcome?There's a gent who appears to be heading onto the span. If not a RR employee, I wonder if the bridge was open to pedestrians to cross. My gut tells me the RR wouldn't allow it, but the deck seems wider than need be, and could those be pedestrian hand ropes on the left edge?
Re: Pedestrians WelcomeIt wasn't unheard of for pedestrians to legally cross on railroad bridges. If there wasn't a nearby road or footbridge then the railroad would allow it. They'd often provide a walkway alongside the tracks for this purpose. In fact in some they still do. The CPR bridge here in Saskatoon has a pedestrian walkway that's used by university students to cross the South Saskatchewan River. It was designed for that purpose back in 1909.
Re: Signal smorgasbordThe white signal posing as Mr. Hat's brilliant idea is in fact a Hall or Banjo signal.  Another can be seen on the other end of the bridge.  Most likely this is part of a block signal system or possibly a block protecting only the bridge.  The signal to the left appears to be part of an interlocking plant, rods for the switch and a point lock can be seen to the left.  And of course the signal on the station is in fact a train order signal.  The mishmash of train control here is great and typical of the time.
Two namesThis station has two names.  When the agent communicates with the dispatcher or other stations using Morse or voice, his station name is "KR".  KR would also be used on train orders, clearance cards, and anything else affecting train movements. 
What's that short post with the number 103.2 on it?  A mile post with a cross arm and insulators on it?
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads)

Bustling Boonton: 1900
... those apocryphal cockroaches that would survive a nuclear war would be dining off them. Still around, although no longer made in ... powering a bit of a hipster influx these days. The Civil War monument at right still stands; and the legacy of the Delaware, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/25/2017 - 10:54am -

Circa 1901. "Railroad tracks and trestle at Boonton, New Jersey." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Nice prototypeThe trestle is great, but I love the turntable.  What a project for a modeler!
Ruins persist.You can see some snaps of what the round table and trestle look like today, here: 
Trestle and Turntable
PushTurntable is of the Armstrong style still used even in recent installations, i.e. Great Smoky Mountains Railway in Bryson City, NC. Siding ending on the trestle is certainly unusual.
Summer PlatesAnyone else remember Boontonware? 
My high school cafeteria was stocked full with it, not to mention our summer home. Incredibly sturdy plastic dishes. My dad used to joke that those apocryphal cockroaches that would survive a nuclear war would be dining off them.
Still around, although no longer made in Boonton, New Jersey, but a few hundred miles away in Ashtabula, Ohio.
Work in ProgressThe track is under construction. The trestle to the left is temporary, and is in the process of being filled in. The cars on the temporary trestle are delivering the material for the fill. 
Sellers TurntableThe turntable was built by William Sellers and Company of Philadelphia. Well built and easy to use, properly maintained they last a long time. They were widely exported to countries like Japan and Australia. My depot still has one, although it's currently out of use. Down the line at Kiama the 60' Sellers turntable is still used to turn the loco when the picnic train is steam hauled. 

Even though they're known as "Armstrong" tables, if the loco is properly balanced they can easily be turned by one person. A contemporary description is here.
Also GoneThe toothed leaves silhouetted at the top of the photo look to be American Chestnut, just a few years before the blight that was to wipe them out was introduced.
Boonton ReservoirThe hill is still there, the town at the north end of the Boonton reservoir, so-called, a practice area for student pilots in the 50s, with an island to work at circling in a wind and nobody on the ground to annoy with the air work overhead.
Still an old, old placeWhile the frame structures have mostly vanished, the number of very old buildings still in use is striking... actually powering a bit of a hipster influx these days. The Civil War monument at right still stands; and the legacy of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western infrastructure is seen today in commuter and freight traffic, plus the shops of the Morristown & Erie Railroad, a relatively young shortline, which undertakes refurbishment on historic stock as a sideline.
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads)

Fort Ruby: 1868
... Matthew Mathew Brady, he took some of the most famous Civil War photographs (especially of war dead). Besides working on Clarence King's ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/05/2009 - 10:22pm -

1868. "Fort Ruby, Nevada. Photo showing two houses." Plate 112 from Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel, Army Corps of Engineers. Clarence King, geologist in charge. Albumen print by Timothy H. O'Sullivan. View full size.
Dawn of suburban architectureWow. California ranch style goes a lot further back than I'd thought. Even has the pole for the basketball hoop - or is that a mercury-vapor street light?
Get me outta here.Except for the faceless wraith in the doorway, it all looks pretty cozy.
Pine Logs and Lime PlasterThe combination of homegrown and store-bought building materials is pretty typical of 1850s and 1860s Anglo-adaptations of older Mexican California vernacular architecture. In this case, instead of adobe, the walls were pine log palings, roughly squared with an adz and set upright as close to each other as was practical. The logs would have been hauled in by wagon from the nearest wooded hills, probably pretty far from the site. The gaps were infilled with lime plaster. It looks as if the whole structure got a coat of lime whitewash, which would weather back in a season or two to reveal some of the substrate materials. The six-over-six double-hung sash windows, the doors, and the milled-lumber cases for each were usually purchased as pre-assembled units from the nearest mill (probably in California), as were the thin shingles. The fireplace chimneys appear to be of unfired adobe bricks, a purely Anglo adaptation of Mexican California adobe oven technology. They closely resemble the adobe chimneys in a few contemporary Anglo-built adobe ranch houses in Southern California that are still standing.
Rain gaugeThe thing on the pole is a Dewitt conical rain gauge, probably not checked very often.
The "Worst Post in the West"Fort Ruby was built in 1862 to guard the Pony Express route, and was deactivated in 1869 when the new Transcontinental Railroad obviated the need for that service. During its seven year existence, the Army called it the "Worst Post in the West." Surprisingly, the buildings in this photo (the officers' quarters and an enlisted men's barracks) remained in use until 1992, when an electrical fire burned them to the ground. More here and here.
Timothy H. O'SullivanTimothy O'Sullivan is one of the great American photographers. Trained by Matthew Mathew Brady, he took some of the most famous Civil War photographs (especially of war dead). Besides working on Clarence King's geological exploration of the 40th Parallel, O'Sullivan also took photos for first team surveying the Panama Canal route. All this before his death in 1882 at age 42.
Home, HomeI bet a few discouraging words were heard there.
This reminds me of...a cartoon I saw years ago. A similar scene - a wooden fort in the middle of a featureless arid plain. There are the usual Indians observing from the top of a ridge, and one says to the other: "What I want to know is - where the heck do they get all that wood?"
Rethinking Ranch StyleI have to say your picture may disprove my article on the history of ranch style architecture.
I think it does still speak to ranch style as being an architecture born out of efficiency though.
[Ranch Style is named after the ranch houses of Mexico and the Old Southwest. - Dave]
Ashes by NowI lived on Fort Ruby Ranch from 1989 to 1992, right before fire destroyed the buildings in this picture. The building on the left was used on a daily basis, as a laundry room, until it burned down. It was used as a connection between the new house that was built, and another set of apartments. The officers' quarters building (building on the right) was not really used other than it housed random items that nobody ever used. My grandfather lived there for 30 years, so it was natural to have a collection.
It's funny that people think this area is "vast plains." It's very far from it. While Ruby Valley itself is very flat, it's surrounded by mountains. The base of the incline of the Sierra Nevada, leading into Humboldt National Forest, is only a couple football fields away from where these buildings once stood. There were plenty of trees around to build these buildings.
The logs were not "squared," as someone else mentioned. When I lived there, I was a curious kid. I used to spend hours in these old rickety buildings. The officers' quarters building was lucky to be standing at all. After almost 125 years, the plaster had washed away, and all that was left were the natural logs.
(The Gallery, Frontier Life, Timothy O'Sullivan)

Old-Timer: 1937
... is in his 70s. That would put his birth at the end of the Civil War. The transcontinental railroad, the development of paved roads, the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/14/2012 - 6:28pm -

April 1937. "Old man on the street in Shawneetown, Illinois." Cornering the market. Medium-format nitrate negative by Russell Lee. View full size.
Old ShawneetownThis is the Posey building, which stood on the SW corner of Main and Washington, now an empty lot, like much of old Shawneetown. It housed a Kroger store, and I think the Gallatin Democrat newspaper on the second floor.
On the NW corner of Main and Washington is the old court house, built circa 1840 and one of the few old downtown buildings still standing. It's an Illinois state historic site, but is shuttered and rotting on the inside. 
There's quite a few other shots of Shawneetown by Lee, who was there to document the effects of the great Ohio River flood of 1937.
Shell stationAnd it appears there's a Shell gas station across the street, thanks to the reflection, bringing this somewhat undated image squarely into the middle of the 20th Century.
I wonder which is olderThe man, or his hat?
Lots of changeHe looks like he is in his 70s.  That would put his birth at the end of the Civil War. The transcontinental railroad, the development of paved roads, the invention of internal combustion engines and air travel happened during his lifetime. His horizon went far beyond that of his father.
More change on the wayHe was about to witness a lot of local change: Shawneetown was flooded (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_River_flood_of_1937) a few months before the photo was taken, and the entire town was moved to "New Shawneetown" a couple of miles up the hill.
That sill was designed for comfort!Or else it's seen a lot of sill sitting, it conforms nicely to the human posterior.
Splish SplashI hope you're not walkin' too close to those downspouts in a heavy rain.  Just the right height. 
Those were the daysWhen I was a kid, we could get canned goods for a nickel.  A nickel!
(The Gallery, Russell Lee, Stores & Markets)

Traffic Channel Control: 1942
... a punch card machine. Photo by Albert Freeman, Office of War Information. View full size. Back when you could see the bits ... incinerated.) Yet here in America is this lady -- a civil servant almost certainly the descendant of slaves herself, now the master ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/22/2014 - 9:57am -

June 1942. Washington, D.C. "U.S. Office of Defense Transportation system of port control and its traffic channel control." IBM printer connected to a punch card machine. Photo by Albert Freeman, Office of War Information. View full size.
Back when you could see the bitsThis mechanical computing machinery helps us to see how far we've come in the last 70 years. Every bit of data is big enough to see on the punch cards, and every signal path is visible on the programming plugboard. 
Yet, somehow, they used this stuff to get the job done. 
Precious memoriesNotice the toggle switch on the tray receiving the processed cards. If too many cards come from the hopper above, the steel plate in front of the cards will nudge the toggle switch to "Off" and shut the machine down. I was running a job on a variant (IBM 402) of the machine pictured one afternoon in the railroad yard office I worked in. I was making small talk with a train conductor while running the job, and the phone rang at the other end of the office. I took the call as I watched the conductor bid me farewell with a wave, and went back to the printer. It was dead. I tried a few tricks I knew and finally gave up, calling for a service rep from IBM. The guy came in and never opened his tool kit. He walked over to the printer, looked me straight in the eye, and flipped the toggle switch to "On." Then he sat down and did his paperwork, never uttering a word all the time he was there. Never knew I could feel so small. The conductor had turned the switch to "Off" while I was on the phone. A week or two later it was my turn. Paybacks are sweet.
The frame at the end with the mini entrails is the program. Our office had about five or six of these things hanging on the wall, each one for a particular job.
Safety First!If you were not very careful your tie could get sucked into the card punch machine.  Our company mandated ties for all computer operators but this rule was put to the test one day when the supervisor was fixing a misfed card and got his tie snared in the machine.  He was down to the last inch or so of his tie before a co-worker shut down the machine no doubt saving his voice from being several octaves higher the rest of his life.  
The next day there was a sign posted: "Ties, if worn, must be tucked into shirts."
It's a tabulator.Don't know the model number, the ones I worked on were of a later generation.
Data from 80-column punched cards were printed in neat columns on the printer.  The plugboard to the left of the machine is used to program which card columns map to the printer character positions, for example: card columns 1 - 10 are printed in positions 20 - 29 on the printer.  The ones I worked on could calculate running, intermediate and grand totals for specified card fields and also print running page and column headers.
In the early 1960s the functions of this sort of machine were taken over by the newer, cheaper IBM mainframes (1400 series, for example) using the RPG program. RPG was basically a report generator program which allowed the mainframe to emulate a card tabulator and sorter.
I dare say there are still some older IBM sites running ROG programs under some sort of emulation.
Doing her bitA competent, assured, and lovely young woman doing a skilled task for the war effort.
What a wonderful contrast to the KKK twit in the previous post.  Dave, did you sync 'em up like that on purpose??
From Many, OneThere is cautionary narrative here for the tyrants of the world.
It is just a few months after the attack on Pearl Harbor and America's entry into World War 2. In Europe and the Orient, the Axis powers and their minions are busily impressing multitudes of subject peoples into slavery, building munitions, roads, fortifications and the like. (And those are the lucky ones -- the ones not starved, gassed and incinerated.)
Yet here in America is this lady -- a civil servant almost certainly the descendant of slaves herself, now the master of this latest arcane and inscrutable mechanism from the International Business Machines Corporation. Calmly overseeing the scheduling of, let's say, the departure of Liberty Ships from their East Coast ports to destinations in England and the Soviet Union.
And thousands more like her, gathering in their makeshift offices across the United States, day after day slowly and methodically planting the seeds of Hitler's doom.
It's an IBM 405 alphabetical accounting machineThis machine seems to have been able to process up to 150 cards per minute, or 80 alphanumeric cards per minute. It could make sums of data stored on cards, and print the results on wide paper. 
Moving to the machine on the right, it's interesting to note that the frame was made with curved legs, then the machine's rectilinear covers were cut out to fit around the legs. 
Ear protection?I wonder, how loud was this contraption in full swing?
In the spirit of the seasonThis reminds me of the last day before Christmas Break in college. Every year this guy would come in to the computer lab and submit a job with three drawers of punch cards. About 30 minutes later, the line printer would start playing Christmas carols. With harmony. 
First came punch cards...and then came punch card wreaths and stars at Christmas. I wonder how long the cards existed before someone folded them into Christmas decorations.
[Here's an example from 1966. -tterrace]
(Technology, The Gallery, Albert Freeman, D.C., The Office, WW2)

Bonus Tracks: 1906
... buildings owned and managed by the Alonzo Ogilvie Bliss, a civil war veteran of the Tenth New York Calvary. Newspaper ads neglected to mention ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 11:14am -

Washington, D.C., circa 1906-1910. "Switch yards, Union Station." The third and final part of our panorama. Detroit Publishing glass negative. View full size.
Pano put togetherFor your viewing pleasure.
Click here to see pano
Hover your mouse over the image for a menu to download the full sized picture.
A Room With a ViewThe Penhurst Apartment, your Haven of Rest, conveniently located near public transportation. 
Refrigerated StorageLooks to be some sort of heat exchanger over on the right. Ammonia chiller, maybe.
VestigesWhile the Penhurst is gone (tracks for Metro's Red Line run where it used to be), the stone bollards and wrought iron railing along First Street survive:
View Larger Map
Plenty Light & Hot WaterThe Penhurst Apartments was one of about a dozen apartment buildings owned and managed by the Alonzo Ogilvie Bliss, a civil war veteran of the Tenth New York Calvary.  Newspaper ads neglected to mention the noise and smoke of the adjacent rail yard. Rent in 1906 was $20 for a four room apartment. 
Today's picture would not quite be the same as H street N.E. now passes over the rail yard.  At the time of the photo, H street passed through a long tunnel underneath the yard, as several of the streets to the north still do.  The Penhurst Apartments were located at 48 H St. N.E. so that gives a pretty good alignment for where the H street bridge is now.
An intermodal transport center and public parking structure now covers this portion of the yard.  Developments rights have recently been sold for all the remaining airspace above the rails.



Classified Ads, Washington Post, Jun 28, 1919 

The Penhurst, Apartment 30 - Two or more rooms, furnished or unfurnished; south front; plenty light and hot water.


Washington Post, Jan 5, 1920 


Penhurst Apartments Burn

Lives of dwellers in the 22 apartments in the Penhurst, 48 H street northeast, were imperiled yesterday when a fire originating in the elevator  shaft spread to all floors of the Building, cutting off escape of a number of tenants by the stairway.  Damage is estimated at $20,000.
When the fire first started the emergency hose was brought into use, but failed to function, and before the fire apparatus arrived on the first alarm the flames had gained such headway that two additional alarms bringing out thirteen additional fire companies were sent in. ...

Tallest Building in the USAI think I spot the Washington Monument poking its head over the Government Printing Office on the right side of the frame.  At the time of this photo, the Washington Monument (169m) still held the title of the tallest building in the United States, holding off a challenge from Philadelphia's City Hall (opened 1901) by just 2 meters.
EquipmentThe heat exchanger mentioned below may have been used to cool compressed air which was used to operate the many switch machines that move the "points" -- a favored method used by the Pennsylvania Railroad in its larger terminals. Ammonia was also injected into the compressed air to help prevent freezing.
Washington Union Station was opened on October 27, 1908, so these photographs probably date very near to that date.
A Stitch in Time...Here's the whole panorama stitched together larger:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/414627/union-station-pano.jpg
Re: Shorpy LandmarksTo the left of the Government Printing Office is the tall thin spire of the Metropolitan Methodist Church.
(The Gallery, D.C., DPC, Railroads)

Over Omaha: 1938
... north towards what is now Interstate Highway 480. The railroad tracks in this 1938 photo, almost every building, and the tall ... of the founder. A.Y. himself was in the Civil War, shot twice, and he was shot a third time, later in life, in a home ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/24/2019 - 12:59pm -

November 1938. "Omaha, Nebraska." A bird's-eye view of, among other attractions, Tri-City Barber College. Photo by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Found one!The Ford Bros. building (in the upper right corner of the photo) still stands at the corner of Dodge & 11th streets.

Graybar Electrical SupplyContinues to thrive all over North America, and is still employee-owned.
An early Ford spottedOne of the billboards advertises the film "Submarine Patrol," which was directed by John Ford for 20th Century Fox, the last Ford-directed film before a run of seven box-office or critical successes in a three-year period that would make him a legend.
Much Has ChangedMy 1940 Omaha City Directory places the barber school at 1302 Douglas Street. Virtually everything in this photo is now gone.
Much Has Changed IndeedI'm glad EADG found the barber school at 1302 Douglas Street, because I found the Arcade Hotel at 1215 Douglas (reference: https://history.nebraska.gov/collections/arcade-hotel-omaha-neb-rg3870am).  Since hlupak604 identified the Ford Bros. Van & Storage building still standing at Dodge and N 11th Streets that means this photo is looking north towards what is now Interstate Highway 480.  The railroad tracks in this 1938 photo, almost every building, and the tall building from which this photo was taken (and is casting the shadow) are gone.
Yes pleaseSunshine Biscuits! Yay! I'll have a case of Hydrox cookies. And a visit to the Uptown Cafe too, after parking under cover for only 20 cents. Just sounds like a great time. What a fabulous picture. I scanned it for many minutes, as big as I could get it. This is why I love Shorpy: unvarnished but soulful glimpses of long-ago America.
It took me awhile to find oneDoesn't look like they had too many trees in the area back then
Strange place for a periodThe A.Y. McDonald Mfg. Co. has a period under the c in McDonald. I'm what is considered an old timer, and I had never seen this before today. 
[Those glyphs (dots, triangles, dashes, etc.) under superscript letters are diacritics. - Dave]
Identity Theft?It is interesting to note that this 1938 scene includes a billboard touting the presumably-yet-to-be-released 1939 Chevrolet by means of an illustration that bears very little resemblance to the actual design.  Could this have been an early version of fake news?
[As most everyone knows, Detroit’s model year begins in the fall or summer of the previous calendar year. And that is a faithful rendering of the 1939 Chevrolet. -Dave]
The '39 Chevy had a V-section grille, receding at the top, with a center strip.  The illustration suggests a more LaSalle-like vertical curved prow -- reason to believe that the illustrators were working from a prototype or sketch of same.
[You're mistaken. And the photo is from November 1938. - Dave]
A.Y. McDonald Mfg. Co.An immigrant from Scotland, born in 1834, A. Y. McDonald opened his plumbing shop in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1856, making his company nowadays, at 163 years old, one of the country’s 100 oldest family businesses.  It expanded to Omaha in 1915.  The firm’s president is still a McDonald, great-great-grandson of the founder.  A.Y. himself was in the Civil War, shot twice, and he was shot a third time, later in life, in a home invasion.  He died in 1891 at the age of 57.
What a fascinating photo that rewards multiple and extended viewings.  It all seems to be gone, as EADG points out, but if you google 1150 Douglas Street, outside the photo to the right, to the east of the Omaha Stove Repair Works (1206-8 Douglas), you can streetview a few old survivors, notably a three-story red-brick building marked Specht.
OopsHey, Dave, you're right!  It appears that the photos I googled, in an attempt to make sure I knew what I was talking about, illustrate 1940 models. Now, as a kid I'd never have been fooled in that way. Thanks for engaging on this one!!!
Graybar Electrical Supply... has a fascinating story.  "Gray" is Elisha Gray, the (alleged) inventor of the telephone, whose patent was scooped by Alexander Graham Bell. The company was spun off from Western Electric, the wholly-owned supplier to the Bell System.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graybar
(The Gallery, John Vachon, Omaha)
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