Photographs from
Burlington, IA
by Photographer

Ancestor photographs are the heart and soul of Visual Ancestor. We permanently preserve ancestor photographs from the Victorian, Edwardian, Roaring-20s, and Depression eras (pre-WWII and reasonably believed to be free of copyright). Here, you can freely browse through all public photographs by state and city. New content from us and our members is continually being archived, so check back often.

Source: Poates, Leonard. L. L. Poates & Co's. Complete Atlas of the World.
New York
, L. L. Poates Publishing Company, 1912.


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Notes about Group Numbers

A group is assigned and identified by a 5-digit number (for example, group 10038) which then becomes the first part of the name of any photograph uploaded into the group. Each photograph uploaded into a group is assigned and identified by a 3 to 4-digit number (for example, photograph 104) which, when combined with the group number, creates a photograph's full name (for example, 10038-104).

Notes about Archiving

Visual Ancestor is continually archiving new ancestor photographs and related antiquities and members are continually contributing their own for permanent preservation. When photographs are archived, their information is added to a central database by an archivist, which includes the geographic location of the photographer from the photographer's stamp. This allows you to search and to browse through photographs by U.S. state and then city. When you select a city, photographs are listed by their photograph number underneath (organized by) their photographer.