The Concord Room houses over two-hundred stereoscopic photographs and three stereoscopes!
What takes the image from a flat, 2D depiction to a 3D image is the unique design of the stereoscope. The stereoscopic photograph has two nearly identical side-by-side images; the stereoscope presents these images simultaneously, one to each eye.
This makes the image appear larger, and more distant. Stereoscopes using this technique were invented in the first half of the nineteenth century. The toy View-Masters popular in childhood were modern stereoscopes, taking favored cartoons or fun scenes and making them come to life.
Our collection includes images whose locations range from the White Mountains to right here in Concord. Most of our stereoscopic views are depictions of Concord in the latter part of the 1800s, taken by Willis G. C. Kimball. The stereoscope brings to life these images and places the viewer at the center of history.
Come take a peek into the past in the Concord Room!
