Georgia Online Historical Photos Research

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 Georgia, 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 2022)

• A History of Georgia Photos
• Athens-Clarke County Photos and Images
• Atlanta Archives Photos
• Atlanta Area Photographers Collection
• Atlanta History Center Album
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographs
• Atlanta University Center Photograph Collections
• Bartow History Museum – Cartersville 
• Berrien County Historical Photos
• Berry College Digital Archives
• Black History Society Photograph Collection
• Booth Western Art Museum – Cartersville 
• Bulloch County Historic Photos
• Chattooga County Photo Gallery
• Chattooga County Photo History
• City of Savannah – Research Library & Municipal Archives – Savannah 
• Clarke County Photo Album
• Clyde-Savannah Public Library’s Historical Photographs 
• Columbus Museum – Columbus
• Columbus State University Photograph Collections
• Delta Flight Museum – Atlanta 
• Digital Library of Georgia
• Documenting the American South
• Emory University African American Photograph Collection
• Fayetteville Historic Photos
• Fulton County Photos
• Fulton County Photos and Postcards
• Georgia Aerial Photographs Database
• Georgia Ancient Faces
• Georgia College Special Collections – Photos
• Georgia Dead Fred Photos
• Georgia Department of Transportation Historical Photos
• Georgia Highlands College Photos
• Georgia Historical Photographs
• Georgia Historical Society – Digital Image Catalog
• Georgia Old Family Photos
• Georgia Southern University Photo Gallery
• Georgia State University Photographic Collections
• Georgia Tech Photograph Collections
• Georgia, DP.LA Photos
• Georgia, Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives
• Georgia’s Virtual Vault
• Glynn County Penny Postcards
• Glynn County Photo Gallery
• Gordon County Photos
• Greene County Photos
• Gwinnett County Photo Album
• Gwinnett Historical Society Photo Gallery
• Hall County Georgia Historical Photograph Collection
• Hall County Photo Album
• Historical Marietta Photos
• Hunting and Gathering – information on 19th and 20th Century Georgia photographers with links to images 
• Jack Hadley Black History Museum Galleries
• Kennesaw State University Image Collections
• Library of Congress Prints & Photographs – Georgia
• Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog
• Lincoln County Photo Album
• Living in Savannah Photo Scrapbooks
• Lumpkin County Photo Album
• Macon Historic Photos
• Morehouse College Photograph Collection
• Morris Brown College Photographs
• Murray County Photographs
• Muscogee County Photos
• Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia – Atlanta 
• National Archives – Digital Photograph Collections
• New Georgia Encyclopedia
• Oglethorpe University Digital Collections
• Perry Area Historical Photos
• Physician Assistant History Center – Johns Creek 
• Rabun County Photo Gallery
• Roswell Historical Society – Roswell 
• Salvation Army Southern Historical Center – Atlanta 
• Savannah Historic Photos
• Savannah Municipal Archives Images
• Savannah State University Historic Photograph Collection
• Schley County Photos
• Smithsonian Images
• South Georgia Folklife Project
• Spelman College Photograph Collection
• Sumter County Photo Albums
• Thomasville History Center – Thomasville 
• Troup County Archives & Historical Society – LaGrange 
• Union County Photo Gallery
• Upson County Photos
• Valdosta State University Photo Archives
• Vanishing Georgia Photographic Collections
• Vintage Aerial Photos – Georgia
• Vintage Georgia Images
• Wilkinson County Photo Album

For historic photos from other states as well as articles about photo research, please visit the Photos page.