ABSTRACT: A collection of glass plate negatives depicting scenes of St. Louis at the turn of the 20th century.
SCOPE: This collection of glass plate negatives depicts scenes of St. Louis at the turn of the 20th century including the construction of the 1904 World’s Fair in Forest Park, the newly built Compton Hill Water Tower, the Cathedral Basilica, the St. Louis School and Museum of Fine Arts and Brookings Hall at Washington University, the Botanical Garden, a variety of farm houses and homes around the city, steamboats along the riverfront, and families enjoying various activities, picnicking, shopping, etc.
EXTENT: 147 glass plate negatives. Most are 5x7, but some smaller.
ACCESS: Due to the fragile nature of this collection, physical access may be restricted. Please contact the library for further information. Information on conducting research with the archival collections of the Library, including current building hours and reading room policies, can be found on our Research page. The St. Louis Mercantile Library is located on levels one and two of the Thomas Jefferson Library building on the University of Missouri-St. Louis’ north campus. The entire collection is available for remote & online viewing on the UMSL Digital Library as the M-514 Early St. Louis Glass Plate Photograph Collection.
Preferred Citation note: The preferred citation for this collection is "From the Special Collections of the St. Louis Mercantile Library at the University of Missouri – St. Louis."
