45 Historic Then-And-Now Photos That Capture Just How Much The World Has Changed
Photography has a strange way of making time feel measurable in a way memory never quite manages. You can remember a place fondly without remembering exactly how different it actually looked. Then a side-by-side photo shows up and suddenly the gap between then and now is impossible to ignore. A building that used to anchor an entire block, gone. A street that used to be quiet, has been completely transformed.
The subreddit Old Photos In Real Life is full of exactly that kind of comparison, the past lined up directly against the present, and the differences range from barely noticeable to something you’d never guess used to be the same place.
1. “My Family Farm C.1900/2000. It Was In Our Family For 125 Years. My Childhood Bedroom Window Is In The Top Center. It Was Also My Father’s And My Grandfather’s Bedroom”
2. “The Pines, Fallsburg, NY. (1950’s-Semi Recent) Not Mine, I Thought It Belonged Here. I Borrowed This From Deadmotelsusa On Instagram”
3. “University Of Montana ~150 Years Apart”
4. “2117 Vyse Ave, Bronx 1989 And Today”
5. “Before And After, Seattle Wa”
6. “Manhattan In 1851 And Today”
7. “My Mom And I Sitting On The Stoop Of The Bronx House That’s Been In Our Family For 100 Years, Recreating A Photo Of My Great Aunt And Great-Great Grandmother Taken In The ’40s”
8. “Grand Central Terminal, NYC. 1912 Top, 2021 Bottom”
9. “Charlotte, NC: Unsure Of The Year, But I Found What Appeared To Be A Dirt Track Near My Workplace On Google Maps. I Did Some Research And Went To Check It Out”
10. “Theodore Roosevelt Would Be Proud”
11. “What An Abandoned Mansion Looks Like As It Deteriorates When It’s Not Cared For Between 1965 And 2012”
12. “1878 – 2022. Tetons. Not Much Has Really Changed In This Photo. But I Still Think It’s Neat”
13. “Hoover Dam Water Level July 1983 vs. December 2022”
14. “Tunnel Rock At Sequoia National Park, 1952 And 2020”
15. “Hollywood Sign, Los Angeles, USA”
16. “Before (1916) And Current (2019) Photo Of Our Street”
17. “Amazing Looking Home Restored In Detroit. 1993 And Now”
18. “The Corner Of 49th St & 3rd Ave, Manhattan 1940 vs. 2021”
19. “Once Upon A Time In America Iconic Scene Then And Now (1984-2019)”
20. “Chicago In The 1930s vs. Today”
21. “Old House In Omaha Nebraska”
22. “10 Years In Detroit. 2009 And 2019. House Proud Lawn Mowing To Abandoned Debris”
23. “The Fallen Monarch, Yosemite – 1899 And Nowadays. ‘F’ Troop Of The 6th Us Cavalry Pictured In The Older Photo”
24. “Woodstock Festival Site- 1969 / 2020”
25. “Old vs. Now”
26. “Then And Now — Salem, Virginia”
27. “1091 E. 165th St, Bronx 1987 And Today”
28. “Sneffels Revenue Mine Colorado 1896 And Now”
29. “Swift River Valley (Massachusetts, Us) 1880s vs. 2010s”
30. “Abraham Lincoln’s Home, Springfield, Illinois. Seen Here In 1861 And Today”
31. “St. Elmo Colorado 1890 And Now”
32. “Waiting Area In Michigan Central Railroad Depot, Detroit (1965 And 2014)”
33. “Louisburg Square On Beacon Hill In Boston, In 1930 And 2021”
34. “Early Los Angeles Compared To 2001”
35. “Unfinished Manhattan Bridge In 1908 And Now”
36.
37. “Sneffels Colorado 1897 And Now”
38. “Silver Cliff Colorado Fire House And Now”
39. “The Tribune Tower, Located At 435 North Michigan Avenue, Seen From Across The Chicago River – 1931 And Today”
40. “Detroit, Michigan. Then & Now”
41. “Detroit, Michigan Before And After”
42. “Detroit, Michigan Before And After”
43. “Statue Of Liberty: Left Photo By My Great-Grandfather In 1937, Right Photo By Me In 2019”
44. “Silver Plume, Colorado Jail 1895 And Now”
45. “Detroit, Michigan Before And After”
