An old proverb states that "the eyes are the windows into the soul." A genealogy corollary is that "a photo is a window into the lives of your ancestors."
I love old photos, whether they are portraits of my ancestors or historical photos for the period when they lived. And it is important to a complete research that one attempts to understand the environment that surrounds our ancestors' lives if one wants to truly appreciate what they went through.
So where can they be found? Obviously the best resource is our own photo albums and those that our relatives possess. But what about other resources? Many archives, historical societies, libraries and genealogical societies have collections of old photos. And in the past few years there has been a massive movement towards making these historical photo collections available online. Some have search capabilities where you can actually put in a surname or a location, name of a building or historical event and find what is available.
For the state of Washington what collections are available for you to browse and/or search online? Here is a list of sites to start with. Please feel free to add in the comments other online resources that you might be aware of in the state.
Please be aware that there may be very strict rules regarding downloading or other use of the images that you may find. Copyright and other legal protections may be in force. Make sure that you read the limitations of use for any image that you find in these collections and wish to download and/or copy. It is your responsibility to adhere to the rules for all of these collections.
Please note that links to these sites may change in the future. The author (me) will not be constantly checking and updating these links, so if you find a broken link, please use your favorite search engine to locate the new link.
(Updated May, 2019; recently added links are in BOLD)
For historic photos from other states as well as articles about photo research, please visit the Photos page.
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
I love old photos, whether they are portraits of my ancestors or historical photos for the period when they lived. And it is important to a complete research that one attempts to understand the environment that surrounds our ancestors' lives if one wants to truly appreciate what they went through.
So where can they be found? Obviously the best resource is our own photo albums and those that our relatives possess. But what about other resources? Many archives, historical societies, libraries and genealogical societies have collections of old photos. And in the past few years there has been a massive movement towards making these historical photo collections available online. Some have search capabilities where you can actually put in a surname or a location, name of a building or historical event and find what is available.
For the state of Washington what collections are available for you to browse and/or search online? Here is a list of sites to start with. Please feel free to add in the comments other online resources that you might be aware of in the state.
Please be aware that there may be very strict rules regarding downloading or other use of the images that you may find. Copyright and other legal protections may be in force. Make sure that you read the limitations of use for any image that you find in these collections and wish to download and/or copy. It is your responsibility to adhere to the rules for all of these collections.
Please note that links to these sites may change in the future. The author (me) will not be constantly checking and updating these links, so if you find a broken link, please use your favorite search engine to locate the new link.
(Updated May, 2019; recently added links are in BOLD)
- Bellingham Historic Images
- Central Washington University Community Projects Photo Collections
- City of Anacortes Photos
- Clark County Historical Museum Photograph Collection
- Columbia Basin, A M Kendrick Photo Collection
- Crossroads on the Columbia Photograph Collection
- Duvall Historical Society Photos
- Eastside Heritage Center - Bellevue
- Ellensburg History Photographs
- Everett and Snohomish County Photo Collections
- Fall City Historical Society Photos
- Granite Falls Historical Society Photos
- Historic Photos Washington
- Issaquah History Museum Photos
- Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe Photograph Collections
- King County Photo Archives
- King County Snapshots
- Kitsap Vintage Photos
- Lacey Museum Photos
- Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog
- McNeil Island Corrections Center Photograph Collection
- Moses Lake Museum & Art Center Photos
- Mukilteo Historical Society - Mukilteo
- Museum of History and Industry Photo Archives
- National Archives - Digital Photograph Collections
- Nordic Heritage Museum Photos
- Northwest Digital Archives
- Old Yakima Photos
- Olympia History Photo Collection
- Port of Bellingham Photograph Collection
- Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society - Seattle
- Redmond Historical Society Photos
- Roslyn African American History Photographs
- Seattle Municipal Archives Photo Archives
- Seattle Neighborhoods Photo Collection
- Seattle Public Library Local History
- Shanaman Sports Museum - Edmonds
- Skykomish Historical Society - Skykomish
- Smithsonian Images
- Sno-Isle Historical Photo Collections
- Snoqualmie Valley Historical Society - North Bend
- Spokane City Historic Preservation Photographic Collection
- Spokane Old Photos
- Tacoma Historic Photos
- Tacoma Public Library Image Archive
- The Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History
- University of Washington Digital Collections
- University of Washington Libraries Photo Albums
- Vintage Seattle
- Washington Ancient Faces
- Washington Dead Fred
- Washington General Subjects Photograph Collection
- Washington Military Department Photograph Collection
- Washington Penny Postcards
- Washington Rural Heritage
- Washington State Historical Society Collections
- Washington State Library Photograph Collection
- Washington State University - Museum of Art - Pullman
- Washington State University Digital Collections
- Western Washington University Archives
- WSU College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences Photo Library
- White River Valley Historical Museum Photos
- Yakima Memory Photographs
For historic photos from other states as well as articles about photo research, please visit the Photos page.
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
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