1800s photos
Photographs from the 19th century, from early daguerreotype portraits to the Civil War, the settlement of the West, growing cities and the first railroads.
Why they are free to use: Published before 1931: their US copyright has long expired. Each photo's page shows its own licence basis and a credit line.
Portraits
Search “19th century portrait photograph” for more, or ask Claude for it

Suffragette Alice Ryan (1830–1906), sister of railway magnates Hugh and John Ryan and wife of industrialist Michael Doheny
1865 · Wikimedia Commons

Edward S. Curtis, circa 1891-1892
1891–1892 · Wikimedia Commons

Gentleman
1863 · U.S. National Archives

Canadian suffragette and heiress Alice Ryan (1830-1906)
1890 · Wikimedia Commons

Portrait of unknown young man, ca. 1894
c. 1894 · Wikimedia Commons

Unidentified Union officer, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing right / photographed by Brigham Bishop, photographer, Army of the Cumberland
1861 · Library of Congress

Possibly Adjutant Carl (Charles) Schmitt, Union officer, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing front / photographed by Godshaw & Mathis, Owensboro, Ky
1861 · Library of Congress

Portrait of Dr. Samuel A. Mudd Date: 1860 Physical descrip: 1 photoprint; b&w; 10 x 8 in. Series Title: Reference collection General note: Dr. Mudd was imprisoned at Fort Jefferson on July 24, 1865, pardoned in February of 1869, and released on March 11, 1869. Repository: State Library and Archives
1860 · Wikimedia Commons
Cities
Search “city street in the 1880s” for more, or ask Claude for it

Mexico City street market 1885
1885 · Library of Congress

Street view in Guadalajara 19th century
1880–1897 · Library of Congress

Calle en Guanajuato 1880
1880 · Library of Congress

Cathedral of Guadalajara in the late 19th century
1880–1897 · Library of Congress

Plaza de Armas and cathedral, Guadalajara in the late 19th century
1880–1897 · Library of Congress

Street view, Guadalajara last 19th century (La Merced)
1880–1897 · Library of Congress

Calle 28 de Septiembre
1880 · Library of Congress

The 1889 Main Avenue Furnishings Building (once home to the Balthasar Kern Saloon and more recently, in 2015, the Animas Trading Co. store) in Durango, the seat of La Plata County in southern Colorado Physical description:. Notes: Purchase; Carol M. Highsmith
1889 · Library of Congress
The West
Search “frontier settlers and wagons in the American West” for more, or ask Claude for it

A settler's wagon at Fort Caspar, a reconstructed 1865 military post located at a North Platte River crossing on the Oregon, Mormon Pioneer, California, and Pony Express trails and the transcontinental telegraph trail corridor in Casper, Wyoming Physical description
1865 · Library of Congress

Klondikers with supplies just below the summit of White Pass, Alaska, 1898.
1898 · Wikimedia Commons

Klondikers with supplies on the wagon road through Cutoff Canyon 3 1/2 miles from the summit of White Pass, Alaska,1898.
1898 · Wikimedia Commons

Chilkoot Railroad and Transport Co., Canyon City, Chilkoot Trail, Alaska, April 22, 1899.
1899 · Wikimedia Commons

Christoper and Jennifer Lawson, historic re-enactors at Cheyenne, Wyoming's Frontier Days, an outdoor rodeo and western celebration held annually since 1897 Physical description:. Notes: Forms part of: Gates Frontiers Fund Wyoming Collection within the Carol
1897 · Library of Congress

Photograph: Union refugees passing through Cape Girardeau in the first year of the war, 1861
1861 · Wikimedia Commons

Buildings and tents on wagon road, White Pass Trail, ca. 1898
c. 1898 · Wikimedia Commons

Wagon in a landscape with army encampment in the distance. Brady album, p. 125
1861 · Wikimedia Commons
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