Last Updated on May 22, 2025 by Matt Staff
By adding color to black-and-white originals, these images reveal the texture and reality of everyday life from over a century ago. Faces, streets, and scenes once frozen in time now feel startlingly familiar. We hope you’re ready to see what life was like over 100 years ago, because here are 25 colorized photos of the beginning of the 20th century.
1. Evelyn Nesbit, a popular American actress
2. Winter on the docks, 1904
3. Roy Carpenter, February 1901
4. President McKinley’s last speech, September 5, 1901
This speech was given in Buffalo, just one day before his assassination.
5. The Cornelius Vanderbilt II Mansion in New York, 1901
6. Silent film actress Maude Fealy, 1901
7. Teddy Roosevelt, 1901
8. Group family photo in Pennsylvania, 1901
9. Naval Academy Midshipmen at the Superintendent’s house, 1901
10. A nice windowside lunch.
11. This little girl wanted to photograph her doll, 1905
12. Binondo, Manila, 1902
13. An office in Detroit, 1902
14. Sculpture giving the final touches to the statue of José de San Martín
15. Office workers trying to look busy, 1903
16. A shoe shiner in 1903
17. Empress Dowager Cixi walking in the snow, 1903
18. Steeplechase Park in Coney Island, August 1903
19. New York Newsboys in Greeley Square, 1904
20. The Corner of 42nd Street and 5th Ave, 1904
21. Workers standing by the locomotive that brought supplies to Forest Park, 1904
22. An ice fountain in the U.S., 1904
23. An early 1900s pastry shop in Manhattan
24. Riding through Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, 1904
25. M.M. Lewis in his Continental uniform, 1901
Want to see more colorized photos?
Take a look at these 20 Colorized Photos That Bring 1930s-1940s Farming to Life, or check out 20 Colorized Photos From The Great Depression. Finally, if you want to check out life in the 1890s, take a look at 25 Colorized Photos From The 1890s.