"Independence Hall at Independence Square, Philadelphia, c. 1910-1915." 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company, Library of Congress. View full size.

"Mississippi River Landing." Circa 1906, an exceptionally detailed view of the sternwheeler "Belle of Calhoun" and sidewheeler "Belle of the Bends" taking on cargo. Detroit Publishing Company 8x10 glass negative. View full size.

Chicago circa 1905. "12th Street Bascule Bridge." Dinosaurs of the Carboniferous Period. Detroit Publishing Company glass negative. View full size.

"Minot's Ledge Lighthouse, Boston, c. 1890-1899." A good design for those vacation home owners (and lighthouse keepers) averse to weekend guests or pizza circulars on the doorstep. Detroit Publishing Co. glass negative. View full size.

New York circa 1909. "Blackwell's Island Bridge, East River." Blackwell's Island is now Roosevelt Island, and today the span is called the Queensboro (or 59th Street) Bridge. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.

Circa 1906. "Cossitt Library, Memphis." This Romanesque red sandstone structure, at Front and Monroe on the banks of the Mississippi, was Memphis's first public library when it opened in 1893. Detroit Publishing. View full size.

Circa 1907. "Aerial bridge. Duluth, Minnesota." Suspended Car Transfer over the Duluth Ship Canal. The gondola could carry 60 tons of cargo across the 300-foot channel with minimal obstruction of the shipping lane. After modification for service as a vertical lift, the span became known as the Aerial Lift Bridge. 8x10 dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

Aug. 16, 1924, at Griffith Stadium in Washington. "Nationals and Tigers. Ty Cobb safe at third after making a triple." View full size. National Photo glass negative.

December 1962. I'm a junior in high school, and during Christmas break a chum and I revisit the grade school we graduated from two and a half years earlier. Lo and behold, there we find, in our old classroom, our eighth grade teacher, in mufti, along with his wife and daughter. "With a little more effort and attentiveness, Paul can accomplish much more than he presently is," is what he'd written on my report card in 1960. Man, did he have me figured. Check out my then-de rigueur white-socks-with-black-loafers and semi-peg pants. I was bound and determined to at least not dress like a dork. Self-timer Kodachrome with my new Kodak Retinette 1A. View full size.

Another picture of me taken by my father at Riverview Beach Amusement Park, Pennsville, New Jersey, in August 1948. This shot clearly shows early indication of my love for all sorts of transportation and travel! View full size | Firetruck.

"Chicago & North Western viaduct over Des Moines River near Boone, Iowa" ca. 1902. Photo by William Henry Jackson. Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.

1906. "Post Office and Eagle Building. Brooklyn, N.Y." At the Alcazar Theatre: "smoking concerts." Detroit Publishing Co. glass negative. View full size.

Luna Park at Coney Island circa 1905. Detroit Publishing Co. glass negative. Tonight only: "Infant incubators with living infants." View full size.

"National American Ballet." August 20, 1924. Our svelte dancers take a dip in or around Washington, D.C. National Photo glass negative. View full size.

August 20, 1924. "National American Ballet." View full size. National Photo Co.