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The collection consists of four Carte de visites (CdV) documenting Manhattan, Kansas and spanning the years 1863-1866. The photographs have been attributed to George Burgoyne (active Manhattan 1859-1890), and were presumably taken from his studio window. At the time of acquisition (2000), all four views bore penciled identifications on the versos, each image identified as Burgoyne's work, each subject identified and dated. Some of this information was presumably transferred from an album that once included the pictures.
The earliest CdV, dated 1863, includes Manhattan's main street, Poyntz Avenue, looking towards the East. The second, dated 1864, presents the town's residences, outhouses, and dirt streets in the direction of Bluemont Hill to the North. The third and fourth images return to the easterly vantage point of the 1863 image. One shows phalanxed U.S. troops crossing the mouth of the Big Blue River as part of the Indian Expedition on 28 June 1865. The final Carte de visite, dated 1866, reveals the addition of new commercial buildings along the city's main artery.
The collection is an important one for frontier Manhattan, as it includes the earliest known views of its commercial and residential districts.