80 Fascinating Photos From The US Past You Need To See

There’s something special about looking at photographs from American history. These images let us see what life actually looked like decades or even centuries ago, capturing moments that would otherwise be lost to time.

Naturally, none of these photographs would exist without the invention of photography itself and its arrival in America. Inventor Samuel Morse happened to be in Paris just as the daguerreotype craze was blooming and met with Louis Daguerre twice in March 1839.

The first daguerreotypes in the United States were made on September 16, 1839, by D.W. Seager, just four weeks after the announcement of the process. Back in New York, Morse set himself up to teach others how to make these images.

Photography took off pretty fast in America. By 1853, an estimated three million daguerreotypes per year were being produced in the United States alone. 

The daguerreotype process created images on polished silver-plated copper sheets, and each one was a unique photograph that showed extraordinary detail when viewed in proper light. Cities like New York had hundreds of photographers competing for customers by the late 1850s.

Before photography, getting a portrait painted was expensive and out of reach for most people. Daguerreotypes changed that.

According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, these photographs were affordable enough that seamstresses, carpenters, and miners could have them taken. For the first time, regular folks could own an actual image of themselves or someone they loved.

Mathew B. Brady set himself the task of photographing the nation’s leading figures after opening his first studio in 1844, capturing everyone from presidents to stage performers. When the Civil War started, Brady wanted to document it photographically.

But his poor business skills and love of attention drove away his best employee, Alexander Gardner, who went on to become one of the top Civil War photographers himself.

Two days after the Battle of Antietam, Gardner became the first of Brady’s photographers to photograph those who had fallen on the battlefield. These photos shocked the public. 

The New York Times wrote that Brady brought home the terrible reality of war. The images made it feel real in a way words never could.

George Eastman made photography much easier in 1888 with the Kodak camera. His advertising showed women and children using the camera, and he came up with a catchy slogan: “You press the button, we do the rest.”

The camera came loaded with enough film for 100 photos. When you finished, you mailed the whole thing back to Rochester, New York. They developed your pictures, put in new film, and sent it all back. Just ten years later, over 1.5 million of these cameras were out there in people’s hands.

When color photography arrived, it changed how people saw the world. Kodachrome film came out in 1935. It was the world’s first commercially successful color film, known for its sharpness, archival durability, and vibrant yet realistic colors.

National Geographic magazine photographers used the film extensively in the 1950s and ‘60s, with their images of exotic destinations inspiring readers. The film was also used to capture Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953 and Edmund Hillary’s climb to the top of Mount Everest that same year.

The film stayed popular for decades because the colors didn’t fade. Many Kodachrome photos from the 1940s through 1960s still look bright and fresh today.