Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway, c.1885

‘First Incline, Switchback Railroad, Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, U. S A.’

Keystone View Company

c.1885

 

 

The stereograph shows the view up the steep incline towards Mount Pisgah. This section of the railroad, originally built to transport coal, was created in 1846. Given the excitement of the ride and the beauty of the scenery the railroad soon became a tourist attraction. The ascent was powered by a ratchet system that later evolved into the mechanism used in rollercoasters. The descent was gravity-driven. The line closed in 1932 and the tracks were dismantled but parts of the route are now on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

‘Mark Twain at his summer study’, 1874

‘Mark Twain at his summer study at Quarry Farm’

Van Aken

1874

 

 

Quarry Farm in New York State belonged to Twain’s sister-in-law, Susan Langdon Crane, and Twain and his family visited during the summer months for twenty years. The octagonal study, commissioned by Twain, was detached from the main farm building. The instantly recognisible figure of Twain is shown writing at a small table, his trademark stogie in his left hand. The study still exists but has been moved to Elmira College Old Campus and Quarry Farm is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

‘Grant’s Tomb’, 1897 & 1898

‘Dedication of Grant’s Tomb – West Point Cadets in Clouds of Dust’

Griffith & Griffith

1897

 

‘Gen. U.S Grant’s Tomb, Riverside, New York City, U.S.A’

Keystone View Company

1898

This enormous mausoleum, the largest tomb in America, houses the remains of former U.S. President and Civil War General Ulysses Grant. Work began in 1891 at Morningside Heights in Manhattan and the mausoleum was completed in April 1897. The twin sarcophagi of Grant and his wife are based upon that of Napoleon Bonaparte in Paris. Grant’s full name was Hiram Ulysses Grant. The famous ‘S’ arose from a mistake when he was nominated for entry into the academy at West Point. Grant liked it so he kept it.

Secession Hall and Circular Church, Charleston, c.1863

‘Meeting Street – Ruins of Secession Hall and Circular Church, with St. Phillip’s in the Distance’

John Soule

c.1863

Interesting on a number of levels, this early stereograph shows the view from Meeting Street towards St. Philip’s Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The ruined building on the left was the Circular Church, designed by Robert Mills, one of America’s earliest native-born professional architects. The church was built ‘in the round’ and modelled on the Pantheon in Rome with a massive classical portico. Completed in the early 19th century the church was the first major domed building in America. A steeple was added in 1838. The remains of the building on the right belonged to the Secession Hall. This is where delegates from South Carolina gathered in December 1860 and voted to secede from the United States, an act that proved to be one of the triggers for the American Civil War. Headstones and monuments can be seen lying in the ground between the two buildings. Both the hall and the church were destroyed during a major fire which ravaged Charleston on 11-12 December 1861. St. Philip’s was built in 1836, its spire added in 1850. Fortunately it survived both the fire and the Civil War and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.