Michael Lehr Antiques
Live Auction

September 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction

Sat, Sep 19, 2026 11:00AM EDT
  2026-09-19 11:00:00 2026-09-19 11:00:00 America/New_York Michael Lehr Michael Lehr : September 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction https://auction.michaellehrantiques.com/auctions/michael-lehr-antiques/september-2026-vernacular-photo-history-auction-24380
Our September 2026 auction is anchored by two remarkable private collections, together making up about half the sale, alongside a broader selection of consignments spanning early photography, Civil War material, and vernacular imagery. The Soffer Collection, built with an eye for rarity and historical significance, is particularly strong in vernacular portraiture, Native American photographs, and Iowa Civil War imagery. The Palmer, Massachusetts collection, much of it found at Brimfield, centers on maker-marked daguerreotypes from the golden age of the American daguerreian studio.
Michael Lehr Antiques info@michaellehrantiques.com
Lot 525

Stereoviews, Kansas City Flood of 1903, L.G. Kennedy and S.S. Bayles

Estimate: $200 - $300
Starting Bid
$100

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$100 $10
$200 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
Ten stereoviews document the aftermath of the catastrophic Kansas City Flood of June 1903, produced by two identified local photographers: L. G. Kennedy, operating at Fifth and State in Kansas City, Kansas, and S. S. Bayles of 2816 East 7th Street, Kansas City, Missouri. The views span multiple vantage points across the devastated industrial district, capturing the event at a moment when the floodwaters had just receded and recovery crews had barely begun to mobilize. Mounts vary between salmon and yellow stock, several with blue-edged borders, and sequential series numbers are penciled or printed on the face of each card.

Across the ten images, visible signage identifies the Atlas Oats mill, the Armour meatpacking facility, and S. L. Cassel's store fixtures business, all surrounded by collapsed roof sections, uprooted rail lines, standing floodwater, and field-scattered debris including a wooden barrel and overturned freight cars lettered for the New England Car Company. One view frames a streetcar suspended atop an elevated iron trestle above flooded ruins of the Bolle Manufacturing Company, while another records men in bowler hats standing atop a derailed locomotive cab chained to a recovery flatcar. A view numbered F54 looks directly down active railroad tracks toward the Armour building with smoke still rising from stacks and storm wreckage pressed against building facades below iron balconies.

The June 1903 Kansas City flood, driven by the overflow of the Kansas and Missouri rivers, was among the deadliest and most destructive in the region's history, killing over one hundred people and destroying much of the Armourdale industrial neighborhood on the Kansas side. Kennedy's series is documented on the reverse of one card, listing views numbered into the 200s and titled "Photographs Before, During and After the Flood in Kansas City, Kansas, and Vicinity, June, 1903," with a handwritten annotation on card 207 reading "Where center of 7th St. Viaduct stood, Armourdale."

Reverses carry pencil inscriptions reading "Kansas City Flood" on several cards, the Kennedy photographer's imprint with series checklist on one, and the Bayles imprint reading "100 flood views to select from, Price $2.00 per Doz." with series number F42 noted in ink. Individual card numbers visible include F12, F16, F17, F23, F24, F26, F30, F42, F54, and 207.

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