The daguerreotype, the earliest photographic process, reached the US from Europe in 1840 and was seized upon by early adopters. Pioneering photographers traveled far and wide, capturing portraits of leading local citizens, natural landscapes, engineering feats, and expeditions into uncharted areas, and documenting important moments from the American Civil War.

Click through this gallery for incredible images from each US state as it looked in the mid-19th century. To enjoy them FULL SCREEN on a desktop, click the icon in the top right...