Last Updated on April 17, 2025 by Colby Droscher
It’s hard to connect with photos from the past when we see them in black and white. The lack of color can make the people and events captured seem distant, almost like they belong to another world. But when those same photos are brought to life with color, something profound happens: history becomes more relatable.
In these photos, we see life in the 1800s through a different lens, one that brings the past closer and helps us recognize the familiar moments, emotions, and struggles that connect us to those who came before us. By revealing the details of their daily lives, these images bridge the gap between us and our ancestors. Here are 20 colorized photos from the 1800s that breathe new life into history.
1. Annie Oakley posing with her rifle, 1890s
Annie Oakley was an incredible marksman from a young age. At just 15 years old, she won a shooting contest against Frank Butler, a professional sharpshooter who eventually became her husband.
2. An 1800s cowboy colorized
It’s incredible how color breathes life into photos like this.
3. Recruiting sergeants outside of a pub in Westminster, 1877
Standing outside of a pub and trying to recruit soldiers is nothing short of unfair. Imagine how many drunks woke up and found out they needed to go to war.
4. A late 1800s samurai
When people colorize old photos, they have to research what colors were popular during that period.
Related: 19 Photos of Real Samurai from the 1800s
5. A woman from New Athens in the late 1800s
Though AI now has the ability to colorize photos in just minutes, hand-colorized photos have a more natural feel to them.
6. Young twins from Ohio
People used to colorize photos by hand, using things like makeup and dyes to do the job.
7. A Swedish hunter in the late 19th century
In the 1800s, they even wore nice clothes to go hunting.
8. The great Norwegian composer and pianist, Edvard Grieg
Grieg was incredibly shy and modest. Sometimes, when his works were being performed, he’d sneak into the audience or stand in the back, almost embarrassed by the attention.
9. Young mill workers from the late 1800s
The late 1800s was the prime era for hat-making.
10. Their faces are completely emotionless
Though rare, samurai duels still happened in the late 1800s, and most of them occurred over honor.
11. George Edward Anderson, late 1800s
Anderson was a mobile photographer. Instead of just waiting for people to come to a studio, Anderson brought the studio to them. He traveled around Utah and nearby states in a horse-drawn wagon converted into a mobile photography studio.
12. Chris Folden and his grandchild, 1890s
This photo was taken in New Athens, Ohio.
13. Alexandre Dumas, 1859
Dumas loved food so much that he spent years working on a cookbook called “The Great Dictionary of Cuisine”.
14. Frederick Douglass, late 1800s
Douglass was the most photographed American of the 19th century. He was even photographed more times than Abe Lincoln.
15. Anton Pavlovich Chekhov among relatives and friends, 1890
You’d never be able to tell this was taken in the 1800s if it didn’t say it.
16. Otto Von Bismarck, 1871
Otto Von Bismarck once fought in a duel and took a bullet to the hand. He challenged his political rival to a pistol duel over a heated argument.
17. Charles Darwin, 1854
Despite his groundbreaking work, Darwin was terrified of public speaking.
18. Eureka Colorado, 1890s
Colorizing a photo like this manually can take up to 20 hours to complete.
19. A woman in the late 1880s
That is one of the most ridiculous hats I’ve ever seen.
20. It’s hard to believe this was taken in 1880
This photo was taken at the Child’s Art Gallery in Upper Michigan.
