In honor of the National Trust’s 75th anniversary, the Preservation magazine team combed through the organization’s archives and other sources for images of its historic sites. Here are some of our favorite finds.

Shown at top: Lyndhurst, Tarrytown, New York

Philanthropist Helen Gould (at right, in white) crochets with a companion at Lyndhurst Mansion circa 1909, almost two decades after she assumed responsibility for her family’s property. The pair sits on the mansion’s veranda, which at the time was enclosed by diamond-pane glass walls, creating a seasonal sunroom. The glass pieces have since been removed and stored, returning the veranda to an open-air space. Many of the items shown, such as the 1870 Joan of Arc bronze to the left of Gould’s companion, remain in Lyndhurst’s collection.

The Shadows, New Iberia, Louisiana

The rear stairwell of The Shadows begins at the first-floor loggia (shown). It continues to the second-floor loggia, which provides a view of the 1834 property’s circular garden and summerhouse and the bayou beyond. This photo was taken in 1962, a year after The Shadows (also known as Shadows-on-the-Teche) opened to the public. The site still owns the olive jar; gravel paths were added to the rear garden sometime after the photo was taken.

Woodlawn, Alexandria, Virginia

An undated photo shows a staircase in the Federal-style main house at Woodlawn, which became the first National Trust–administered historic site in 1951. (The organization acquired the property in 1957.) The painter and the woman on the stairs are unidentified, but labels on the paint and turpentine cans suggest that the interior painting project may have been part of a National Trust–led restoration that took place during the 1950s.

Cooper Molera Adobe, Monterey, California

A circa-1875 photo shows the Cooper Molera Adobe in downtown Monterey. The two-story adobe on the property is now a museum, and the one-story structure adjoining it now houses Alta Bakery + Cafe. Cooper Molera became a National Trust Historic Site in 1968.

The Glass House, New Canaan, Connecticut

In 2006, photographer Jason Frank Rothenberg took these photos at The Glass House site as part of a magazine assignment. Model Teresa Moore poses at the Pavilion in the Pond (at left, 1962) and inside the Brick House (at right, 1949), both designed by Philip Johnson. Johnson’s Glass House appears in the background of the Pavilion photo, and the 1953 artwork shown in the Brick House is The Clouds of Magellan by Ibram Lassaw.

Drayton Hall, Charleston, South Carolina

A person identified as H. Troth (possibly Henry Troth, an internationally known photographer who was active at the time and had family ties in Charleston) took this photo of Drayton Hall sometime between 1870 and 1900. It shows three sheep keeping the grass around the main house trimmed. A garden mound was later added in front of the house, and the fence is no longer there.

Chesterwood, Stockbridge, Massachusetts

Likely taken in the mid-1970s, this photo shows interns at Chesterwood moving sculptor Daniel Chester French’s Andromeda (1929-’31) out of his studio on the customized tracks he had built. The system allowed French to work outdoors and gauge the interplay of sunlight and shadows on his pieces. The site still occasionally exhibits Andromeda alfresco; the marble sculpture, his last, is considered incomplete. It is on permanent display in the studio.

Oatlands, Leesburg, Virginia

This photo of the chandelier and ceiling medallion in the entrance hall at Oatlands was taken in 1967, at least a decade before a major storm swept through the site and blew open the front door. According to Laura VanHuss, the site’s interim executive director, the storm destroyed the medallion and damaged the chandelier. The former was reconstructed and the latter repaired, and both items occupy the entrance hall today.

Filoli, Woodside, California

On a warm day in 1981, hundreds of guests gathered for a classical music concert in the entry courtyard at Filoli, a Northern California estate donated to the National Trust in 1975. The courtyard made the news again in November 2023 as the spot where President Biden greeted President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China before the two leaders continued their meeting in the main house.

Belle Grove, Middletown, Virginia

The parlor at Belle Grove contains a false door, placed there for symmetry to match the door to the dining room. In May 1967—the year the site opened as a house museum—a group of four people and a dog gathered around the false door for what is described on the back of the print as a “publicity photo.” It’s not clear whether the people are working or posing as workers, since they appear to be wearing street clothing.

All images are archived in the National Trust Library Collection in Special Collections at the University of Maryland, College Park.