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 Maryland, 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 December, 2020; recently added links are in BOLD)
- Allegany County Vintage Views
- Allegany High School Digital Archives
- Baltimore City Archives
- Baltimore County Public Library - Photos
- Baltimore Museum of Industry - Baltimore
- Banneker-Douglass Museum - Annapolis
- Bowie State University - Historical Images Collection
- Calvert County Digital History Library Photos
- Chevy Chase Historical Society - Chevy Chase
- Columbia Photographs
- Cumberland Historic Photo Collection
- David C. Driskell Center - Univ. of Maryland - College Park
- Digital Maryland
- Dorchester County Photographs
- East Baltimore Documentary Photography Project
- Enoch Pratt Free Library Photo Collections
- Frederick Preservation Trust
- Goucher College Archival Photograph Collection
- Harpers Ferry Online Image Collection
- Historic Photographs from the Maryland Department
- Historical Maryland and DC Photos
- Historical Society of Baltimore County
- Historical Society of Harford County - Bel Air
- Howard County Photo Collection
- Images of Baltimore
- Jewish Museum of Maryland - Baltimore
- Johns Hopkins Online Exhibitions
- Laurel Historical Society - Laurel
- Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog
- Library of Congress Prints & Photographs - Maryland
- Maryland Ancient Faces
- Maryland Archives - Abandoned Building Photography
- Maryland Dead Fred
- Maryland Historical Society - Collections Online
- Maryland Historical Society Special Collections - Photographs
- Maryland Institute Black Archives
- Maryland Old Family Photos
- Maryland State Archives Historical Photographs
- Maryland, DP.LA Photos
- Maryland, Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives
- McDaniel College Alumni Photo Albums
- Montgomery County Historical Society - Rockville
- Nabb Research Center - Salisbury
- National Archives - Digital Photograph Collections
- Office of History, National Institutes of Health - Bethesda
- Old Baltimore Photos
- Old Baltimore Photos
- Old Maryland Photos
- Photographic Archives of Maryland
- Preservation Maryland Photo Albums
- Prince Georges County Architectural Photos
- Prince Georges County History in Pictures
- Smithsonian Images
- Somerset County Photographs
- Somerset Photo Gallery
- Southern Maryland Online
- Southern Maryland Studies Center
- St. Mary's College of Maryland Digital Archives
- St. Mary's County Photograph Collection
- Talbot County Postcard Collection
- Towson University Digital Collections
- Universities of Shady Grove Collections
- University of Baltimore Digital Collections
- University of Baltimore Photo Archives
- University of Baltimore Model Urban Neighborhood Image Gallery
- University of Maryland Baltimore Archives
- University of Maryland Baltimore County Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery - Baltimore
- University of Maryland Baltimore County University Photographs
- University of Maryland Global Campus Archives Digital Repository
- University of Maryland Digital Collections
- U.S. Naval Academy Photographs
- U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive
- Views of African American Life in Maryland
- Vintage Aerial Photos - Maryland
- Vintage Maryland Photos
- Vintage Ocean City
- Vintage Photos of Clarksburg
- Vintage Postcards of Southern Maryland
- Washington County Historical Society (MD) - Hagerstown
- Western Maryland Historical Library - Photographs and Postcards
- Wicomico County Photographs and Images
- Wicomico County Photos
For historic photos from other states as well as articles about photo research, please visit the Photos page.
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
For other Free Maryland Links, click on the category of interest:
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