Photography

150 Years Ago in Photos

A collection of images showing events and sights from around the world in 1876—the year the United States celebrated its 100th anniversary with the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.

By Alan Taylor
People gather at an information booth at the base of a very tall statue of an arm holding a torch, in a photo from 1876.
Sepia Times / Universal Images Group / Getty
People gather at an information booth beneath the colossal torch and part of the arm of the Statue of Liberty, on display at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Visitors could view plans for the completed statue and climb a ladder to the torch, and they were asked to donate to a fund to build a massive pedestal. The statue was eventually completed and dedicated 10 years later, in October 1886.
Hundreds of small boats and rowers cluster together in a broad canal in Venice.
Giovanni Battista Brusa / The J. Paul Getty Museum
La Regatta, Venice, circa 1876
Five women and a couple of men sit and stand outside, posing in white clothing. One holds a bucket and long rope.
Eadweard J. Muybridge / The J. Paul Getty Museum
Original caption: “Panama. Native Women, 1875–1876”
Queen Victoria, seated on a carved ivory throne
W. & D. Downey / Hulton Archive / Getty
Queen Victoria of Great Britain sits on an ivory throne presented to her by the raja of Travancore, 1876.
a05_G-613491656.jpg
Hulton-Deutsch Collection / Corbis / Getty
A crew member of the HMS Alert poses beside a speared walrus in the Arctic Circle. He was part of Captain George Nares’s British Arctic Expedition of 1875–1876.
Thirty-five young people in formal clothing pose outside of a tall school building
Andreas Larsen Dahl / Wisconsin Historical Society / Getty
The University of Wisconsin class of 1876 poses on the lawn in front of Main Hall (later Bascom Hall), in Madison, Wisconsin.
A person sits near the edge of a cliff overlooking the Grand Canyon.
John K. Hillers / Library of Congress
Photograph of the Grand Canyon, looking east from the Toroweap Overlook in Arizona Territory in 1876. Photograph taken by John K. Hillers during the Powell Survey.
A historic photo of one of Egypt's pyramids in Giza, alongside a mostly-buried Sphinx.
Otto Schoefft / The J. Paul Getty Museum
Original caption: “Pyramid, Sphinx and excavation site, 1876”
Two portraits of Native Americans, from 1876.
Corbis / Getty
Left: Original caption: “Na-tu’-ka, Algonquian Family, Piegan tribe, Age 23.” Right: Original caption: “Mu-Nahxk-Wai-yo, at 38 the chief of the Great Plains Blackfoot tribe during the late nineteenth century.”
A view of the relatively small city of Los Angeles, seen from a nearby hilltop, in 1876.
Carleton E. Watkins / The Met Museum, Gift of Carole and Irwin Lainoff, Ruth P. Lasser and Joseph R. Lasser, Mr. and Mrs. John T. Marvin, Martin E. and Joan Messinger, Richard L. Yett and Sheri and Paul Siegel
Los Angeles, 1876. Possibly a view looking south, down the street now known as Broadway, seen from near West First Street, in downtown Los Angeles.
A view of downtown Manhattan, including a partially-finished Brooklyn Bridge, from 1876.
Joshua H. Beal / The New York Public Library
A detail from a panoramic view of Manhattan, showing the Brooklyn Bridge under construction, in 1876. From the NYPL page: “Joshua H. Beal climbed to the tower of the Brooklyn Bridge while it was still under construction, where he exposed five negatives to create this composite panorama.”
A view of a frontier town in South Dakota in 1876.
Fotosearch / Getty
A view of Deadwood, South Dakota, in its heyday, photographed by F. J. Haynes, showing storefronts and groups of men, between 1876-77.
Members of a band pose with their instruments in front of a hotel, circa 1876. A sign above the door reads: “E. Braggins Licensed to sell spirituous liquors.”
James Bragge / Imago / Piemags / Reuters
Members of a band pose with their instruments in front of the Braggins Hotel in Masterton, New Zealand, circa 1876. The sign above the door reads “E. Braggins Licensed to sell spirituous liquors.”
A large crowd of people look on from a bridge as a tightrope walker (wearing small baskets on their feet) walks on a rope above Niagara Falls.
George Barker / Sepia Times / Universal Images Group / Getty
Onlookers watch as Maria Spelterini, an Italian tightrope walker, walks above Niagara Whirlpool while wearing peach baskets on her feet in July 1876.
Eight women sit and stand, posing, while wearing traditional Chinese garments.
Attributed to Tung Hing / The J. Paul Getty Museum
Original caption: “Costumes. Chinese women.” Circa 1876.
Eight men stand at an outdoor work station beside piles of wool.
William Hart / Imago / Piemags / Reuters
Original title: “Wool Scourers, Shag Valley station, Otago.” New Zealand, between 1876-80.
A group of twenty-four men, women, and children pose, sitting in a semi-circle in front of a large house in 1876.
Andreas Larsen Dahl / Wisconsin Historical Society / Getty
Herman Amberg Preus, his wife Caroline Keyser Preus and visitors, seated outside a house in Spring Prairie, Wisconsin, in 1876
Two people stand outside a damaged house, looking at debris from other earthquake-damaged houses.
John Milne / Science & Society Picture Library / Getty
John Milne traveled to Japan in 1876 to study seismology and experienced an earthquake on the evening of his arrival. He and W. K. Burton were professors at the Imperial College of Engineering in Tokyo.
The many historic buildings of Moscow's Kremlin, seen from across a river.
Sepia Times / Universal Images Group / Getty
A view of the Kremlin in Moscow, circa 1876
Two men pose beside a small horse-drawn cart in front of a state capitol building. The sign on the cart reads:
Andreas Larsen Dahl / Wisconsin Historical Society / Getty
Issued as a stereograph entitled “The Artist,” Madison, Wisconsin, 1876. This Wisconsin State Capitol building was erected in 1857 and replaced in 1913. The flag on the side of Andreas Larsen Dahl’s wagon is a souvenir of the Philadelphia Centennial International Exhibition of 1876.
An elevated view of a crowded port in an Italian city in 1876.
Manuel Mayo / Imago / Piemags / Reuters
A panoramic photo of buildings and ships in the port of Genoa, Italy. Part of a travel album with photos and drawings by Manuel Mayo, from 1876.
St. Paul's Cathedral in London, rising above a cluster of smaller buildings.
Valentine Blanchard / The J. Paul Getty Museum, Gift of Weston J. and Mary M. Naef
Original title: “St. Paul’s Cathedral. London, England, about 1862–1879.”
Many workers stand in and around an excavation site and several partially-demolished buildings.
Sepia Times / Universal Images Group / Getty
Excavation of Butte des Moulins in Paris, France, circa 1876, part of a much larger renovation project
An overview of visitors with their horses and carriages, gathering in a hillside field with a view of San Francisco Bay.
Carleton Watkins / The J. Paul Getty Museum
An overview of visitors gathering near the Presidio of San Francisco, during Centennial celebrations. A mock military battle was staged in San Francisco Bay to celebrate the U.S. Centennial.

About the Author

Alan Taylor is a senior editor at The Atlantic.
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