Travel through time across America with this 11,710-photo gallery

The United States Library of Congress has published 11,710 photos taken across America between 1969 and 2008. They depict buildings, businesses big and small, houses, and signs that provide a fascinating glimpse at how America's landscape has changed over the past several decades.

The massive gallery is the work of a photographer named John Margolies who spent over 20 years meandering across America to document the man-made sights that caught his attention. He was the opposite of Ansel Adams; he almost never photographed wildlife, or nature. The Library of Congress began purchasing his photos in 2007, and it created the John Margolies Roadside America Photograph Archive in 2016, the year he died.

Each photo is clearly labeled with the year it was taken and its precise location. Browsing through the gallery gives the impression that America was a sunny, empty place during the second half of the 20th century because Margolies made it a point to take photos on perfectly sunny days, and without anyone in the frame. That's bad news for fashion aficionados, but great for those who want to dive into the history of American architecture without distractions. Margolies wasn't picky; he shot diners, tattoo parlors, hotels, courthouses, Masonic temples, banks and libraries, among other buildings. 

This epic gallery is a treat for car-spotters, too. Browsing through the hundreds of pages, we spotted a 1970s Chevrolet Camaro, a Studebaker dealership, several Volkswagen Beetles, and an orange BMW 1602 we'd bring home if we had the ability to freely travel through time.

Check out the 11,710-photo gallery on the Library of Congress website. Alternatively, the full batch is gradually being uploaded to a Flickr page named Roadside America. All of the images are in the public domain, so they can be downloaded and used commercially if needed.