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TO COMMEMORATE THE founding of Philadelphia 331 years ago this week, historical writer Michael Beschloss shared one of the earliest photos of Philly with his Twitter followers.
The history of North America – at least that from the time of colonisation by Europeans and beyond – seems relatively new to us.
Yet the growth and expansion of major centres of population in the US happened quickly and some photographs of their earliest days show a stark difference to the cities we know today.
Here are some interesting early photos available of what are now major US cities:
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
A view of 8th and Market Streets downtown, courtesty of Free Library of Philadelphia:
New York City, NY
This home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in a daguerreotype from 1848, from the AP archive. The image sold at a 2009 auction:
Boston, Massachusetts
William Blake photographed this aerial view of Boston from a hot air balloon in 1860, courtesy of the Boston Public Library. It was the first successful aerial photographic effort in the US, according to the Air and Space Museum.
Washington, DC
John Plumbe made a daguerreotype of the Capitol Building in 1846, according to the Library of Congress:
Detroit, Michigan
A view of Randolph Street in downtown Detroit from the 1890s, courtesy of the Walter P Reuther Library:
Miami, Florida
Gleason Waite Romer took this snapshot of Old Fort Dallas and the Seminole Club hotel in Miami in 1895. This photo comes from the State Archives of Florida:
New Orleans, Louisiana
George F Mugnier photographed a cotton shipment at a New Orleans dock in the 1880s, courtesy of the State Library of Louisiana:
San Antonio, Texas
The earliest known photograph of the Alamo Church and Plaza in San Antonio comes from 1858, according to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library:
Denver, Colorado
A view of downtown Blake Street in 1866 from the Denver Public Library:
Las Vegas, Nevada
This photograph of the First State Bank of Las Vegas, circa 1905, comes from the special collections at the library of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas:
Los Angeles, California
An early view of Spring Street in Los Angeles dating from 1870-1880, from the California Historical Society Collection at the University of Southern California:
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Do some people here think you’re logging into the bloody Financial Times website?its the Journal.ie,you know,a news app that you downloaded for free and then come on to complain that what you’re reading isn’t newsworthy.Delete it then and move on if it’s not worth it..most of us appreciate the hard work that the staff of Journal do every day
Looking at the streets is a reminder of just how lucky we are to have cars now and not have to suffer the piles of horse dung.Imagine those streets after a downpour.
The Denver photograph looks like modern day Crossmaglen. Nice photographs.
@ Patrick we have missed you over the last few months as I’ve said before as a loyalist we welcome your dialogue with us modern Irish …. We welcome your view and agree with you that unionist all 70k of use will have a better say in a 32 county republic than you do in the uk&ni after all why else would continually come on here but to hav an Aule chat …. # keepitup
AKA Tony Slap.
I must be the odd one out here,as a visitor to the west coast and southern US i love these old photos.
Article written by “Business Insider”. How is this news? What has it got to do with news? Come on journal.ie, consign these articles to the Daily Edge.
D’you know Will, somedays it’s nice to read human interest stuff that we may not otherwise come across. I lived in the US for a bit & also like historical photography so I appreciate articles like these. It’s what I enjoy about The Journal. On the other hand, I am sick to the back teeth of reading the comments on articles related to abortion – I have my opinion & cast my vote when I had the opportunity – so now I generally pass over those articles or if I read them, don’t read the comments. You too have the choice to read what does not interest you or what you don’t consider newsworthy.
have your say