Disappointed by Congress? Forget those losers and check out the Library of Congress. Because these archive-happy nerds have millions of items in their collection from creative industries–“books, newspapers, manuscripts, prints and photos, maps, musical scores, films, sound recordings and more”–and have made tons of them available to download, for free, right here.
Century Hotel, 140 Ocean Drive, Miami, Miami-Dade County, FL
“Top o’ the world” landing field: Architectural drawing shows ice airport with futuristic airplanes and igloo-shaped hangers. By architect Wilbur Henry Adams, 1943
Ritter Ranch, Barn, Old Dolores Highway, Dolores, Montezuma County, CO
Fallingwater (duh), by architect Frank Lloyd Wright
Architectural drawing shows visionary view of Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio ca. 1930, by architect Wilbur Henry Adams
Cutaway perspective of TWA Terminal, John F. Kennedy International Airport, by Eero Saarinen & Associates
The White House (“President’s House”) Washington, D.C. Site plan and principal story plan, 1807
Work area at the Johnson Wax Building, headquarters of the S.C. Johnson and Son Co., Racine, Wisconsin
Architectural drawing showing framing plan for the Chrysler Building in New York City, including “observation floor” and “top floor,” 1929
We’re 90% sure you won’t get in trouble for downloading this stuff. Just 90% because the LOC’s language is vague. Statement theirs, italics ours: “The Library believes that this content is either in the public domain, has no known copyright, or has been cleared by the copyright owner for public use.”
