Early Photo of a Group of Men Posing With the Bottom Portion of Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts (1859)

 

"Forefathers' Rock, Plymouth, Mass." Photo of a group of men posing with the bottom portion of Plymouth Rock a few years before the first stone memorial was built around it in Plymouth, Massachusetts, c. 1859. Taken by photographer Deloss Barnum. This is probably the earliest surviving photo of any portion of Plymouth Rock.

Source: J. Paul Getty Museum.

Photo of a Man Posing With What is Said to be a Bronze Dome From the Porcelain Pagoda Tower in Nanjing, China (1871)

 

Photo of a man posing with what is said to be a bronze dome from the Porcelain Pagoda tower in Nanjing, China, 1871. The tower had been destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion in 1856. Note the graffiti written on the dome and also the building rubble presumably from the tower scattered around it. Taken by Scottish photographer John Thomson. From a scan of the original glass negative.

Source: Wellcome Collection.

Photo of Gold Miners Posing in Their Camp in La Plata County, Colorado Territory (1874)

Photo of gold miners posing in their camp in La Plata County, Colorado Territory, 1874. Taken by photographer William Henry Jackson while he was a member of the Hayden Survey.

Source: National Archives and Records Administration.