Picture Perfect Historic Sauk County Photos - Part 1 Etched in Glass

The oldest pictures of Sauk County date from the 1850s but are rare. By the turn of the 20th century, photography was much more common although still a relatively cumbersome process. One way to take a photograph during this period was with a glass plate negative, a thin sheet of glass with dry chemicals on it that would react to light. In Prairie du Sac, two friends, Frank S. Eberhart and Christian C. Steuber, each began taking photographs of their area around 1900 with glass plates. Their fragile creations survived and have been completely digitized by the Sauk Prairie Area Historical Society (SPAHS), giving us a glimpse of everyday life more than 100 years ago.

A presentation on the photos of Eberhart and Steuber will be given on Thursday, February 27 at 6 pm by Jack Berndt of SPAHS and Paul Wolter of the Sauk County Historical Society in partnership with the Carnegie-Schadde Memorial Public Library in Baraboo. The presentation is free and open to the public and will be held in the library’s auditorium. 

Part 2 will be held March 6th, 6pm at the Library.