Library of Congress

Prints and Photographs Online Catalog:

The Detroit Publishing Company Collection contains many panoramic photographs of North American cities, railroads, and landscapes dating from circa 1900.

American Memory:

The Panoramic map collection shows another popular use of the panoramic format during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Also featured on the American Memory site are several special presentations relating to panoramic photographs:

• a brief history of the format
• a demonstration of the process of making a panoramic photograph
• information about selected photographers who made panoramic photographs, with samples of their work;
• sample cityscape and disaster images that take advantage of the unique qualities of this type of photograph.

Outside the Library of Congress

Many museums and historical societies have panoramic photographs in their collections. Some of the larger or more well-known collections are listed below. Links to Home Pages are included, but there may not be specific information about panoramic photos online. (NOTE: The Library of Congress does not maintain these Internet sites. Users should direct concerns about these links to their respective site administrators or webmasters.)

Major Panoramic Photograph Holdings in Other Institutions

California Museum of Photography (University of California, Riverside) has approximately 800 panoramic negatives from the Haines Photo Co., primarily of views taken in California and on the West Coast. The Museum also has the Cirkut camera used by William Amos Haines.

University of Texas, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center (Austin, Texas) has the Eugene Goldbeck Collection, consisting of over 10,000 vintage panoramic prints, 60,000 Cirkut panoramic negatives, and Goldbeck's inventories.

National Archives and Records Administration, Still Picture unit (College Park, Maryland) has approximately 4,500 panoramic photographs. Many of these images are of military units, camps and installations, and were taken during World War I. Over 500 of these images have been copied onto 8x10 inch black & white film and are available to the public for reproduction purposes. The original panoramic photographs can be seen firsthand by visiting the Still Picture Research Room.

On the World Wide Web Beyond the Library of Congress

International Association of Panoramic Photographers

National Archives and Records Administration exhibit of panoramic photographs.