A library is a pretty good thing...

Especially if it's the Library of Congress. I was poking around on the part of their site devoted to "Today in History" and noticed an online exhibition of panoramic photographs of cities and towns from the early part of the 20th Century. The panorama shots were apparently a pretty hot item way back then and a big part of stock photographer's business. Anyway, there are shots from all across the country, including 48 from Alabama alone. A few favorites include this 1916 skyline of Birmingham, this panorama of the old Tennessee Coal and Iron Ensley Works (which you might recall from the Halloween Scary Story Blogburst), and this 1918 shot of cadets upon the lawn of Alabama Polytechnic Institute (that impressive Romanesque building in the background is Samford Hall, and the cadets are standing about where College Street runs through Auburn, Alabama. Yep, this is what Auburn U. used to look like.) On down the road a bit from Auburn is this lovely place, Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. And then there's Wilson Dam, which is just pretty impressive. Finally for all of you Lileks fans, here's one of the Minneapolis skyline taken from Nicollet and Seventh.
posted by Terry at 9:39:00 AM