19 Colorized Gilded Age Photos That Make History Pop (1865-1902)

History Vintage Photos April 29, 2025

Last Updated on May 3, 2025 by Colby Droscher

The Gilded Age is known as a time that underwent rapid change, stunning wealth, and remarkable contrasts throughout America. From the larger-than-life mansions to the ever-bustling, hustling city streets, it was truly an era that industrialists, inventors, and everyday civilians helped to shape the country’s future.

Colorized photos are able to instill that much more vivid emotion into the various snapshots that serve to make up the period of time in history. So, take a step back in time and immerse yourself in some of the rich history that looms within the infamous Gilded Age.

1. The dresses of the Gilded Age were something else

A young woman with light hair styled up, wearing a pale pink Victorian dress with lace details and a black choker necklace, sits posed in profile against a neutral background.
randomaersling

What a lovely shade of pink we have going on here.

2. Ambrose Burnside, 1870s

A seated older man with large white mutton chop sideburns, wearing a dark suit with a vest and cravat, poses against a plain blue background. He looks slightly to his left with a serious expression.
xanderlionheart

Not sure if these beards are ever going to make a comeback or not.

3. An 1870s politician holding a pose

A nineteenth-century man with sideburns and a mustache wears a dark buttoned jacket, a white shirt, and a red tie, posing against a plain light blue background.
color969

The politicians from back in the day really knew how to make a statement with their facial hair.

4. Mark Twain was actually a redhead, taken in 1870

A man with curly brown hair and a large mustache wears a dark jacket, white shirt, and a bow tie. He looks to the side with a thoughtful expression against a plain background.
pejaaskql

Who’d have thought it?

5. Miss Stevenson back in the 1870s

A young woman in Victorian-era clothing with a brown jacket, white blouse, burgundy bow, and decorative hat with white feathers, sits posing against a neutral background.
ltimmermans

The hats back then really knew how to bring it. Makes sense with it being the Gilded Age and all.

6. Nicolas Cage, is that you though?

A seated man with dark hair and mustache wears a suit with a vest and a large red bow tie, posing against a plain greenish background.
arkhamyeahs

Yet another referential exhibit in terms of Nicolas Cage potentially being immortal.

7. A distinguished lady’s portrait back in the 1870s

A woman with long, dark curly hair adorned with a large purple bow looks to the side. She wears a choker with a cross pendant, a lace-collared dress, and a light-colored scarf pinned at her neck.
anemessis

There are some stories behind those downcast eyes.

8. President James Garfield and his daughter, around 1870

A bearded man in formal attire sits on an ornate chair, holding an open book. A young girl with long hair in a white dress stands beside him, looking at the camera. The background is plain with a draped curtain.
xanderlionheart

Honestly, doesn’t look like dad and his kid are having the best time here.

9. Representative William McKinley, 1870s-1880s

A man in a formal dark suit with a bow tie and neatly parted dark hair poses for a portrait, looking directly at the camera with a neutral expression.
nepethenscas

That’s an intense bow-tie.

10. Miss Sophia Morrison with the iconic hair

A young woman with light brown hair styled up, wearing a high-collared, long-sleeved, lavender dress with dark trim and a brooch at the neck, sits with her hands folded, gazing slightly to the side.
ltimmerman

You can already tell that all that jewelry surely fetched a pretty penny.

11. Apparently this kid’s name was Stanley Cain, and it was taken back in the 1870s

A young child in a vintage dress with blue details stands by a green velvet stool and a wooden table with a flowering plant, next to a small metal bucket, in a colorized old photograph.
ltimmerman

Stanley Cain is one very serious looking kid.

12. Congressman, James Garfield back in the 1870s

A bearded man in a dark, double-breasted suit with a bow tie poses for a formal portrait against a plain, muted background. He is looking to the left with a serious expression.
anonymous

Those are some striking blue eyes if I’ve ever seen them.

13. Those colors really make that shot pop

A young woman in a long-sleeved, high-necked pink and dark green Victorian dress poses beside a stone structure, with greenery and stone steps in the background. She wears a hat decorated with flowers and leaves.
randomaersling

Love the decision to make that dress such a vivid magenta here.

14. You’ve just got to wonder what’s so funny?

A woman with brown hair in a vintage-style black dress sits smiling, covering part of her face with one hand. She wears jewelry and a brooch. The background is dark, and a logo reading "ALMA SANA" appears in the upper right corner.
almasycolorization

It almost seems like she got caught up in a laugh, but it was already too late.

15. Breaker Boys at the Woodward Coal Mines in Kingston, Pennsylvania, circa 1900

A group of young coal miners, dressed in worn work clothes and helmets with lamps, stand and sit on wooden stairs outside a mining building, faces marked with coal dust, early 20th century.
rishicolors

Being a “Breaker Boy” was no easy life.

16. An old sailor with his dog in 1890

An elderly man wearing a cap and dark coat sits on a dock or boat, smiling, with one hand resting on a small, white and brown dog sitting at his feet. The background shows water and industrial equipment.
lady2742

That dog is obviously a very good boy.

17. It seems like she had to hold that pose for quite some time

A young woman with brown hair styled in an updo wears a high-collared, white lace dress and a round pendant necklace, posing against a soft, neutral background.
memorylanepr

No kidding, hopefully she was able to blink a few times.

18. Young fellow is looking quite studious there, indeed

A man in vintage clothing sits relaxed at a desk with his feet propped up, holding a book. Maps hang on the wall behind him and an oil lamp sits on the table.

Looks like the young lad isn’t particularly enjoying his studies.

19. Just a young lad and his dog out in New Athens, Ohio in the 1890s

A young boy in striped pajamas sits on a chair, holding a happy brown and white dog. He has a straw hat resting on his knee. The background is softly painted, with a wicker chair to the side.

Yes, hold that loyal dog close, kid.

Want more vintage photos? Time-travel through 25 Colorized Photos From the 1950s, meet frontier moguls in 25 Real Photos of Wild West Icons, or see opulent New England estates in 20 Vintage Photos That Capture Boston’s Charm and Grit.

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