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 Florida 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 Florida 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)
- Aerial Photography Florida
- Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum - Clewiston
- Amelia Island Museum of History - Fernandina Beach
- Beaches Museum & History Park - Jacksonville Beach
- Boca Grande Historical Society - Boca Grande
- Broward County Library Digital Archives Photographs
- Captiva Island Historical Society - Captiva
- Central Florida Memory
- Child of the Sun - Florida Southern College Digital Photograph Collection
- City of Coral Springs - Coral Springs
- Clearwater Sun Photograph Collection
- Cocoa Beach Photo Gallery
- Collier County Museums Historic Photo Archive
- Delray Beach Historic Photos
- Desoto County Photographs
- Exploring Florida
- Florida Ancient Faces
- Florida Dead Fred
- Florida Citrus Photographs Collection
- Florida Heritage Collection
- Florida Historical Society - Cocoa
- Florida International University Photo Collections
- Florida Keys Historical Photos
- Florida Memory Historic Photos
- Florida Memory Photographs
- Florida on Florida
- Florida Penny Postcards
- Florida Tech Online Collections
- Florida Verve Historical Photos
- FSU Digital Library Photographs
- Hillsborough County Photographic Collections
- Historic Florida Imagery
- Historic Florida Southern College
- Historic Marathon Photos
- Historic South Florida Photos
- Jacksonville Historical Society - Jacksonville
- Jacksonville Pictures and Photos
- Key West Art & Historical Society - Key West
- Key West Photos - 1960s
- Lakeland Public Library Digital Collections Photographs
- Largo Public Library Digital Collection Photographs
- Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog
- Manatee County Historic Images
- Manatee County Historical Resources - Bradenton
- Marco Island Historical Society - Marco Island
- Marion County Historical Photos
- Miami-Dade Public Library Digital Collection Photographs
- Miami Flashback
- Monroe County Public Library - Florida Keys Photos
- Naples Historical Photos
- National Archives - Digital Photograph Collections
- Old Florida Photos
- Orange County Historic Photos
- Orange County Regional History Center - Orlando
- P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History - Photographs
- Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials
- Punta Gorda History Center - Punta Gorda
- Rollins Digital Collections Photographs
- Safety Harbor Photo Collection Photographs
- Sarasota County Historical Resources - Sarasota
- Smithsonian Images
- Stetson University Photograph Collections
- St. Augustine Historical Society - Saint Augustine
- UDT-SEAL Museum Association Inc. - Fort Pierce
- University of Florida Archives Photograph Collection
- University of Florida Photograph Collections
- University of Miami Photo Collections
- University of South Florida Photograph Collections
- University of West Florida Historic Trust Photographs
- Venice Museum and Archives - Venice
- Vintage Jacksonville 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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