Iconic photo trove locked away in old Pa. mine

Iron Mountain, an old limestone mine-turned-high-security facility, in Pennsylvania is the unlikely spot where you'll find 150 years of American history packed away in filing cabinets. Millions of photographs, negatives and even glass plates from 19th Century cameras are stored in this facility 220 feet underground -- a trove of times gone by.

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The facility, opened for a rare look for CBS News correspondent Whit Johnson, is owned by Corbis, a Bill Gates-owned company that licenses the rights to photographs and visual media.

Some of what Johnson saw there includes famous snapshots and never-before-seen photographs of icons like Marilyn Monroe, Albert Einstein and Abraham Lincoln.

Check out his not-to-be-missed full report in the video below.

[FerdFerkle]

It's sad, with the Digital age, we may loose the present history that is being made, because of deleting, and not knowing how long digital photos of differing types will last. And we can be decieved with how digital can be manipulated too. Hope we don't regret changing from real film someday.

[marilyninv]

WOW!!! This is a really well done, fascinating story. This has been one of the most interesting pieces you have done in awhile. I wish I could have been there to see more of the photos. This segment should have been longer. Any possibility these photos will be available for public viewing? Thrilled they are being kept from further deterioration.

[MaxxLuthor]

Absolutely fascinating. Great piece. It is good that these treasures are being cared for properly. Thank you Bill Gates.

[Zann-Zel]

If something ever happened that sealed that place off - sometime in the future, it could be the largest time-capsule ever discovered! I'd love to just browse thru that place! : )