A group of fifty (50) albumen stereoviews by S.S. Bayles showing the devastation of the 1903 Kansas City floods. 

Each view is presented on cardstock mount with an ink-inscribed number (F.#) to lower mount recto, otherwise untitled. Numbers included: Nos. F. 5-7, 9, 11-17, 20-24, 26, 28-33, 35-36, 38-39, 48, 50-52, 54, 59-60, 62-64, 66, 70-71, 75-76, 78-79, 82, 86-88, 96-97. One view (F.71) bears the "2816 East 7th St." imprint of Kansas City photographer S.S. Bayles with the notice "100 flood views to select from / Price $2.00 per Doz." 

A massive, remarkably comprehensive documentary archive recording one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of the American Midwest. Beginning in late May 1903, record rainfall pushed the Kansas and Missouri rivers over their banks, inundating Kansas City’s bustling West Bottoms under up to 35 feet of raging water, drowning livestock yards, and severing interstate rail lines. 

Photographer S.S. Bayles systematically traversed the mud and wreckage immediately after the waters receded to capture this expansive visual record. Featured subjects in this lot include submerged and derailment-strewn rail corridors, industrial ruins and collapsed warehouses, residential devastation, and relief efforts. An important view is F.13, which captures three African American individuals in conversation with a building behind them in ruins. 

Large runs from regional disaster series by S.S. Bayles are seldom found in this volume, making this an invaluable archive for urban history, rail transport, and early 20th-century photojournalism.

[Kansas City Missouri, Kansas City Kansas, 1903 Flood, West Bottoms, S.S. Bayles, Disaster Photography, Transcontinental Railroad, Union Pacific, Rail Wreck, Train Derailment, Flooding, Stereoviews, Industrial Ruins, Photojournalism]

Very good overall condition. Prints display warm tones with strong contrast, deep shadows, and clear detail throughout. Mounts retain their curved profile with expected minor corner bumping, light occasional edge rubbing, and scattered faint foxing.