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East Esplanade Bandstand, Pan-American Exposition of 1901
Held in Buffalo, NY, the wonders of Niagara Falls electricity were shown via 240,000 lightbulbs
Western Electric Company multiple switchboard
In order to handle increasing numbers of telephone calls, switchboards like this model from the 1880s employed operators to make connections between the parties. (Click on the image for diagrams illustrating the difference between single-line wires…
"Dawn of the Century" March & Two-Step, sheet music cover
Cover artwork shows allegorical woman holding a standard identifying her as "XXth Century". She has an electric light bulb atop her head and stands on a winged wheel, representing Progress. Around her are examples of modern technology and invention,…
Sheffield Peabody, 1894
Homesteading in the Oklahoma Territory and separated from his Springwater, NY family, Peabody sat for this photograph taken on December 29, 1894. He would have been 64 years old.
"Wigwam" of the 1860 Republican Presidential Convention, Chicago
Engraving depicts wooden structure, built in just a few weeks, to hold 10,000 delegates to the party's nominating convention. In the years following it was used to hold rallies and political meetings during the Civil War before its demolition…
Crowds walking to the Hemlock Fair, ca. 1900
Since the 1860s a fair has been held at the northern end of Hemlock Lake, then called "Slab City." This crowd may have just disembarked from the Lehigh Valley Railroad station, behind the mill.
Halkett's "Guideway Steam Culture" Illustrated
Scheme for the application of steam engines to agriculture was deemed by the editors of "The Genesee Farmer" to be "more poetry than practice." Surreal as it appears to be, except for the rail lines modern planting and harvesting use very similar…
Village of Springwater, NY ca. 1912
Panoramic view of Springwater Valley looking southwest, showing the Advent church at right and the town hall at left center
Maps of Oil Creek, Pennsylvania
Collection of five maps shows in detail the buildings, oil companies, properties, and notable wells of America's first oil boom. The series begins with Oil City, a major depot on the Allegheny River, and moves (north) upstream toward Titusville.
Bird's-eye view of Titusville, PA
Looking northwest, major streets and features of a town whose growth was driven by America's first oil boom during the 1860s. Oil Creek is in the foreground, and the Oil Creek Rail Road is shown running south toward the oil region--although by this…