Thomas Easterly (1809-1882), a native of Vermont, was an itinerant photographer in Iowa and the upper Midwest until 1848 when he settled in St. Louis. He operated a daguerreotype studio in the city until the 1870s. Thomas photographed mostly portrait, but street and urban photography were parts in his work. Here are some rare photographs capturing everyday life in St. Louis from 1848 to 1870 by Thomas Easterly.
Canton Tea Company and Union Fire Company, 1848
Little German band, ca. 1850
Ninth Street looking north from Chestnut, 1852
Old Spanish Fort, later Roy’s Mill, Riverfront at foot of Biddle Street, Steamer Wyoming at river bank. Daguerreotype by Thomas M. Easterly, ca. 1850. Missouri History Museum Photographs and Prints Collections. Thomas Easterly Collection.
Pacific Railroad locomotive Gasconade, ca. 1855
St. Louis Court House, ca. 1851
St. Louis levee, 1853
Chouteau’s Pond, South to Eight and Gratiot, 18 July 1851. Daguerreotype by Thomas M. Easterly, 1851. Missouri History Museum Photographs and Prints Collections. Thomas Easterly Collection.
St. Louis Park Beer Garden, South Broadway, ca. 1860
Third Street looking North from Olive, ca. 1854
Big Mound during destruction, 1869
Chouteau’s Pond, ca. 1854
Chouteau’s Pond, view south from 8th and Clark Streets, 1850
Cracker Castle, ca. 1866
Fourth and Olive Streets, ca. 1851
Fourth Street Looking north from Olive, 1870
