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Vintage photos of:
Our holdings include hundreds of glass and film negatives/transparencies that we've scanned ourselves; in addition, many other photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs) in the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) They are adjusted, restored and reworked by your webmaster in accordance with his aesthetic sensibilities before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here. All of these images (including "derivative works") are protected by copyright laws of the United States and other jurisdictions and may not be sold, reproduced or otherwise used for commercial purposes without permission.
[REV 25-NOV-2014]
The Investment Building in Washington at 15th and K Streets in 1925, shortly after its completion. Home to the barber shop seen here yesterday, the Investment Building was touted as being the first big office building in the East with an underground parking garage. Ten years ago it was torn down and replaced with a new structure designed by Cesar Pelli, who used the original limestone for the street-facing facades, which were propped up during demolition with a framework of steel girders. Except for the modern superstructure peeking over the top, the new Investment Building looks pretty much like the old one. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
"Boy Scout training demonstration, 1912." Fifth in our series of bandaged, splinted and faux-injured Scouts. Harris & Ewing glass negative. View full size.
Washington, D.C., 1914. "District of Columbia. Alley clearance slum views." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative, 5 x 7 inches. View full size.
District of Columbia, 1911. "Negroes. Negro life in Washington." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative, Library of Congress. View full size.
October 1942. Inglewood, Calif. "Parts are marked with this pneumatic numbering machine in North American Aviation's sheet metal department." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer, Office of War Information. View full size.
July 24, 1929. "Norma Shearer (Mrs. Irving Thalberg)." The Oscar-winning actress at the White House. National Photo Co. glass negative. View full size.
Washington, D.C., circa 1925. "Barbershop, Investment Building," 15th and K Streets N.W. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
December 31, 1921. "Miss Texanna Loomis." Mary Texanna Loomis, founder and proprietor of the Loomis Radio School in Washington, D.C. National Photo Company Collection glass negative, Library of Congress. View full size.
Washington, D.C., in 1920. "Sprague. Decatur Heights." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
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.
Washington, D.C., circa 1921. "Loomis Radio School." Mary Texanna Loomis, founder and owner of the school, instructing a class. View full size.
Richmond, 1865. "Castle Thunder, Cary Street. Converted tobacco warehouse for political prisoners." Main Eastern theater of war, fallen Richmond, April-June 1865. Wet plate glass negative, photographer unknown. View full size.
Cincinnati, Ohio, circa 1906. The sidewheeler Cincinnati passing under the Roebling Suspension Bridge. Detroit Publishing glass negative. View full size.
Circa 1903. "Sands Street entrance, Brooklyn Navy Yard." With a flock of newsies, and Lewis Hine nowhere in sight. Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
1925. The Arcade, the converted streetcar barn seen in our previous post in 1913. Now it's a dozen years later, the horse has been retired, and a big radio tower has sprouted. National Photo Company glass negative. View full size.