Minnesota 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 of 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, the name of a building, or a historical event and find what is available.

For the state of Minnesota, 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 constantly be checking and updating these links, so if you find a broken link, please use your favorite search engine to locate the new link.

(Updated April 2023)

Minnesota Historical Photo Archives

• Aitkin County Photo Galleries
• American Swedish Institute – Minneapolis 
• Anoka County Photo Gallery
• Augsburg University Archives
• Austin Historic Pictures
• Beltrami County Historical Society Photos
• Bemidji State University Archives
• Bethany Lutheran College Archives
• Bethel University Historical Photographs Collection
• Bishop Henry Whipple Indian Photograph Collection
• Burnsville Historical Society Photo Archives
• Carleton College Archives
• Carleton College Stork Photograph Collection
• Charles Chamblis Twin Cities African American Community Photograph Collection
• College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University Photos
• College of St. Benedicts and St. Johns University Libraries
• College of St. Scholastica’s Digital Repository
• Cook County Historical Society – Grand Marais 
• Duluth Photo Gallery
• Eau Claire Phillips Library Photo Gallery
• Excelsior-Lake Minnetonka Historical Society Photograph Collections
• Finntown Historical Photos
• Foley Gallery
• Great Northern Railway Historical Society Photos
• Hallie Q. Brown Community Center, Photograph Collections
• Hamline University Digital Collections
• Hennepin County Library Online Photo Collections
• Hibbing Photos
• Historical & Cultural Society of Clay County – Moorhead 
• Hugo Historical Commission – Hugo 
• Iron Range Research Center Photographic Collections
• Isanti County Historical Society Digital Collections Database
• Jackson County Photos
• Library of Congress Prints & Photographs – Minnesota
• Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog
• McLeod County Historical Society – Hutchinson 
• Men of Minnesota
• Minneapolis and St. Paul Newspaper Negatives Collection, 1936-1987
• Minneapolis Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives
• Minneapolis Photo Archives
• Minneapolis Photo Collection
• Minneapolis Vintage Photos
• Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Edina Newspaper Photographs Collection
• Minnesota Alliance of Local History Museums – Photographs
• Minnesota Ancient Faces
• Minnesota Annual Conference United Methodist Church – Minneapolis 
• Minnesota Civil War Photograph Collection
• Minnesota Dead Fred
• Minnesota Digital Library
• Minnesota Discovery Center Digital Archives
• Minnesota Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives
• Minnesota Genealogical Society – Lost Minnesota Photographs
• Minnesota GenWeb Photos by County
• Minnesota Historical Aerial Photographs Online
• Minnesota Historical Society Photograph Collections
• Minnesota Penny Postcards
• Minnesota State University Archives
• Minnesota Vintage Photos
• Minnesota, DP.LA Photos
• Minnesota, Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives
• Mower County Pictures
• National Archives – Digital Photograph Collections
• Nicollet County Historical Society – St. Peter 
• Northfield Historical Society Digital Collections
• Norwegian-American Historical Association Collection Database
• Norwegian-American Historical Association Photographs
• Ramsey County Historical Society – St. Paul 
• Redwood County Photos
• Rice County Historical Photos
• Rochester Photo Index
• Scott County Historical Society – Shakopee 
• Smithsonian Images
• St. Catherine University Image Collections
• St. Cloud State University Photo Archives
• St. Olaf College Digital Collections
• Stearns History Museum Photos
• Stillwater Historic Photographs
• Stillwater Public Library – Trivia from our Archives
• University of Minnesota Archives
• University of Minnesota Archives Photo Collection
• University of Minnesota, Duluth, Local History Photographs
• University of Minnesota, Morris Digital Collections
• University of St. Thomas Archives Photograph Collection
• Vintage Aerial Photos – Minnesota
• Wayzata Historical Society Photos
• White Bear Lake Area Historical Society – White Bear Lake 
• Winona Historical Photos
• Winona State University Photograph Collection
• Zenith City Online

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