Seeking the Past Through Photography
The Denver Public Library presents the Western History and Genealogy Digital Image Collection.
Developed by the Western History and Genealogy Department of the Denver Public Library system, the collection is an extensive amount of photographs depicting the history of Denver, including surrounding Colorado areas and much of the American West in general. More than 100,000 photographs have been digitized to allow them to be viewed online, which increases public access to the photos while preserving them by eliminating the need for the photos to be handled. Images include photos of Native Americans, railroads, mines and the miners who worked them, World War II and various buildings, residences and street scenes dating back to the 1860s.
To view the images in the collection, simply choose a topic to browse by. You can choose to browse by photograph topic, photographer, or by the year in which the photos were taken.
The images on the Digital Image Collection are low resolution, but you can view high resolution images in the Gates Western History Reading Room on level five of the Central Public Library. The Central Library is located at 10 W. Fourteenth Ave. Parkway, Denver, CO 80204
In addition to the extensive collection of the Denver Public Library, the Digital Image Collection also includes images from the collection of the Colorado Historical Society (designated by call numbers “CHS”). More than 15,000 photos record Colorado’s growth and development. Noted photographers include Harry H. Buckwalter and Ola Garrison.
Prints are available for purchase. Prices are listed on the website.
3 Comments
If you really want to see where Denver began you can visit Confluence Park. This is where Cherry Creek and the Plat River converge and one of many early placer mining sites. Today this site is near many eating establishments, my favorite is My Brothers Bar, where you can dine while lsitening to classical music.
Denver has a great history filled with many colorful characters. Seek out a walking tour of our past “red light district” and see if the current business’s reflect the past atmosphere.
What a great concept. There are so many amazing historical photos locked up in city’s vaults and with historical societies, that the public can’t view. Hopefully this concept will spread to other cities.
there really is not anything that compare to seeing eveolution. what a facinating place.