The Ancestor Hunt regularly adds and updates new collection links, as well as searches for and fixes broken links.
(This page's most recent update is January 2025)
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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. It is important to 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 resources are 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 New Mexico, 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.
New Mexico Historical Photo Archives
- Abandoned, History, Landscapes & Wildlife of New Mexico
- Albuquerque Historical Postcards
- Albuquerque Photograph Collection
- Albuquerque Route 66 Photographic Survey Collection
- Atlantic and Pacific Railway Photograph Collection
- Bureau of Indian Affairs – Photographs – New Mexico
- Chaco Research Archive Image Gallery
- Chloride, Henry A. Schmidt Photograph Collection
- CSWR Christopher Felver Photograph Collection
- CSWR Cobb Memorial Photography Collection
- Dawson, New Mexico Photographs
- Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information – New Mexico Photos
- Farmington History Photos
- Farmington Museum Photos
- Historic Portales New Mexico
- Indians and Pueblos of New Mexico
- Italians in Albuquerque Pictorial Collection
- Library of Congress Prints & Photographs – New Mexico
- Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog
- Lincoln National Forest Historic Photos
- Los Lunas Museum of Heritage and Arts
- Memories and Photos in New Mexico
- Menaul Historical Library of the Southwest – Albuquerque
- National Archives – Digital Photograph Collections
- National Museum of Nuclear Science & History – Albuquerque
- New Mexico Ancient Faces
- New Mexico Dead Fred
- New Mexico Digital Collections
- New Mexico Historic Sites
- New Mexico History Museum
- New Mexico Locales Photograph Collection
- New Mexico Past Images
- New Mexico Penny Postcards
- New Mexico Postcards
- New Mexico State Records Center and Archives Photo Albums
- New Mexico State University Archives Photographic Collections
- New Mexico, DP.LA Photos
- New Mexico, Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives
- Officials of New Mexico Photograph Collection
- Old New Mexico Images
- Old New Mexico Photos
- Palace of the Governors Photo Archives
- Photographs of the American Southwest (1870s-early 1900s)
- Route 66 Photograph Collection
- Santa Fe Photograph Collection
- Santa Fe, CSWR Eduardo Fuss Photograph Collection
- Santa Fe, History Thru Pictures And Stories
- Smithsonian Images
- Southeastern New Mexico Historical Society Photo Collection
- Taos, Nancy Wood Photograph Collection
- Tucumcari and Quay County Then and Now Photos and Memories Group
- University of New Mexico Photo Archives
- UNM CSWR Albuquerque Photograph Collection
- Vintage Aerial Photos – New Mexico
For historical photos from other states and articles about photo research, please visit the Photos page.
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!