In the 1790s, Philadelphia was America's most prosperous, populous and cosmopolitan city. It was also the young nation's temporary capital, while Washington, D.C., was being built. This circa 1797 print shows fine homes along High Street (later called Market Street), a major thoroughfare running from east to west through the center of the city.

Vacationing Americans at the turn of the twentieth century often set aside time to simply look at things -- stagecoach sightseeing excursions provided an opportunity to transcend the commonplace realities of life back home. This coaching party stopped at Lick Observatory atop Mount Hamilton, east of San Jose, to take in scenic views of California's Santa Clara Valley.

In the 1800s, long-distance travelers often rode public coaches "in stages," jostling along rough country roads with mail, freight, and other passengers. Every few hours, the coach would stop to change horses. Inns served as popular stagecoach stops where weary travelers could find meals, lodging, and conversation. This illustration depicts a variety of traffic at the Fairview Inn near Baltimore, Maryland.

Stage wagons were light and open, though not as comfortable as later Concord stagecoaches. They could go about five miles per hour, barring bad weather or road obstructions. The gaily painted signboards of roadside taverns beckoned weary travelers, promising rest, meals, and a chance to catch up on news. Stage wagon drivers used the stop to care for their horses.

Discomfort, loneliness, and the ever-present danger of being robbed while jostling through the open West on a stagecoach can be easily imagined in this Detroit Publishing Company photograph of an outpost in northern Montana. But before railroads spanned the continent, many relied on stage lines for mail delivery and long-distance transportation.

In 1859, J.C. Burbank and Co. of St. Paul combined with the firm of Allen and Chase to form the Minnesota Stage Company. By 1865 the Minnesota Stage Company held a monopoly of stage roads, controlling over 1,600 miles. This broadside advertises the routes in 1868.

This wood engraving, probably completed by artist Tudor Horton, depicts a very early flat-topped coach traveling along a road. Stagecoach companies commonly used the flat-topped coach to transport passengers between "stages" or stations before the development of the vehicle known as the "Concord Coach" took precedence.

Before canals and railroads, stagecoach lines transported goods and people from town to town. Published in the Manufacturers and Farmers Journal and Providence and Pawtucket Advertiser on July 7, 1825, this clipping advertised a company of stage coaches between Boston, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island. The schedules were provided, along with this line's "advantages superior" to other lines on this route.

Originally printed in 1788, this advertisement features a detailed description of the stage line operated by Gershom Johnson and Michael Dennison. This stage line ran between Philadelphia, Charlestown, and Baltimore.

By 1900, stagecoach lines connected railroad stations with Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park. The park's unique geological formations and abundant wildlife beckoned tourists, who could stay at one of Yellowstone's hotels. Guests often took in the scenic landscape on day excursions in park-operated sightseeing coaches.

Passengers traveling beyond the reach of the railroad in the mid-1800s could extend their journey by boarding a stagecoach. This 1852 broadside advertised stagecoach routes from the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's westernmost stop at Cumberland, Maryland, to destinations as distant as New Orleans, Louisiana.

This circa 1825 waybill lists the distances in miles between taverns along Piles' stage coach line between Vincennes, Indiana, and St. Louis, Missouri.

The Santa Fe Trail, an 800-mile commercial trade route between Missouri and Santa Fe since 1821, experienced its height of overland traffic after New Mexico became part of the United States in 1848. Stagecoach operators competed fiercely for passenger traffic and federal mail contracts, including Preston Roberts, who operated a weekly mail and passenger line during the early 1860s.

Waybills helped nineteenth-century stage lines keep track of fares and passengers. For each journey, company agents would fill out passenger names, destinations, number of seats, and collected fares. Additional notes sometimes listed types of baggage or other special instructions. This waybill documents a trip from Fairport to Warren, Ohio, in September 1829.

This hack passenger wagon, with its smaller, square body and open sides, was a less expensive type of public coach. Used for short distance travel in rural areas, these vehicles carried passengers between towns and villages. Quite appropriately, this driver has posed his vehicle in front of a post office -- stage lines also transported the U.S. mail along their routes.

Few places seemed more romantic than the American West to tourists at the turn of the 20th century. Many headed westward, seeking the untamed beauty and vast open spaces that epitomized opportunity, individuality, and what it meant to be American. Here, passengers view the natural landscape from inside or atop a sightseeing carriage on its way to Arizona's Grand Canyon.

The stagecoach is a symbol of the American West, but its origins are in New England. First built in the 1820s, Concord coaches featured an innovative leather-strap suspension that produced a rocking motion over rough roads -- easier on passengers and horses alike. This example carried passengers and mail in New Hampshire and Maine before the automobile made it obsolete.

Built by Samuel D. Hubbard around 1827, the Mansion House served as a stagecoach stop providing meals and lodging to weary travelers passing through Middletown, Connecticut. The hotel also catered to local residents as a site for meetings and public celebrations. One notable party commemorated builder Samuel Hubbard's 1852 appointment to the office of United States Postmaster General.

For nearly thirty years, 1895 to 1924, the Detroit Publishing Company was one of the major image publishers in the world. The company had a wide-ranging stock of original photographs, including this image of Howardsville along the Animas River in Colorado. Sultan Mountain and Bear Mountain provide a backdrop for the early settlement's log buildings, dirt streets, and corrals.

Before railroads, long-distance travelers often purchased a ticket and climbed aboard a public coach. They would jostle along rough country roads with mail, freight, and other passengers "in stages," stopping every few hours to change horses.

Before railroads, long-distance travelers often rode in public coaches. They would jostle along rough country roads with mail, freight, and other passengers "in stages," stopping every few hours to change horses. This image depicting a loaded stagecoach in transit was drawn and engraved by Philadelphia artist Alexander Robb.

Before railroads, long-distance travelers often rode in public coaches. They would jostle along rough country roads with mail, freight, and other passengers "in stages," stopping every few hours to change horses. This image depicting a loaded stagecoach in transit was drawn and engraved by Philadelphia artist Alexander Robb.

Before railroads, long-distance travelers often rode in public coaches. They would jostle along rough country roads with mail, freight, and other passengers "in stages," stopping every few hours to change horses. This image depicting a loaded stagecoach in transit was drawn and engraved by Philadelphia artist Alexander Robb.

The Emison & McClure Company issued this small broadside informing the public of the rules and regulations they had established in conducting their mail stage line between Louisville, Kentucky, and St. Louis, Missouri. Copies of the broadside would have been posted in the company's offices and given to passengers.

Prolific illustrator John Warner Barber sketched this charming scene of the eastern view of the public square of New Haven, Connecticut. The circa 1840 color engraving depicts a pastoral scene of buildings, people strolling, and a stagecoach.

In the last third of the nineteenth century, an unprecedented variety of consumer goods and services flooded the American market. Advertisers, armed with new methods of color printing, bombarded potential customers with trade cards. Americans enjoyed and often saved the vibrant little advertisements found in product packages or distributed by local merchants. Many survive as historical records of commercialism in the United States.

In the last third of the nineteenth century, an unprecedented variety of consumer goods and services flooded the American market. Advertisers, armed with new methods of color printing, bombarded potential customers with trade cards. Americans enjoyed and often saved the vibrant little advertisements found in product packages or distributed by local merchants. Many survive as historical records of commercialism in the United States.

Stagecoaches, horses, and a pack train carry men and supplies down the streets of Dolores, Colorado. Most of the men in this late 19th-century photograph were probably miners or prospectors. Note the man by the stagecoach with a mining pan. And on the far right is a man on horseback who has packed his horse with a pan and shovel.

This wood engraving depicts a typical mid-19th-century travel scene. Traveling by stagecoach meant being jostled on rough country roads and stopping every few hours to change horses. Travelers squeezed into coaches and roadside inns with strangers.

Before railroads, long-distance travelers often rode in public coaches. They would jostle along rough country roads with mail, freight, and other passengers "in stages," stopping every few hours to change horses. This engraving depicts a stagecoach journeying toward Middletown, Connecticut.

Waybills helped nineteenth-century stage lines keep track of fares and passengers. For each journey, company agents would fill out passenger names, destinations, number of seats, and collected fares. This waybill documents a trip on the Rail-Road Line of Stages from North Canaan, Connecticut, to New York. Stage lines often connected outlying towns with cities and railways.

This newspaper clipping from the New York Evening Post, dated October 29, 1804, advertises a number of stage coach lines operating between eastern cities. Two of the lines advertised travel from New York City to Albany, while another company has lines that run from New York City to Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and "the Federal City" -- now known as Washington, D.C.

If they couldn't go by railroad, Americans often traveled by stagecoach -- even into the early 20th century. Stage lines moved their vehicles in "stages" with continual relays of fresh horses. Open-sided wagons were lighter and less expensive than closed coaches. Canvas curtains protected passengers from bad weather. The Julian Stage Line operated in San Diego County, California.