
(This page's most recent update is January 2025)
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 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 Wyoming, 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.
Wyoming Historical Photo Archives
- American Heritage Center Digital Collections
- Buffalo Bill Center of the West Digital Collections
- Bureau of Indian Affairs – Photographs – Wyoming
- Campbell County Rockpile Museum Photos
- Cheyenne Vintage Photos
- Fort Caspar Museum & Historic Site – Casper
- Fort Collins History Connection – Wyoming Photographs
- Framing the Frontier: Photographers & the American West, 1850-1920
- Heart Mountain Photograph Collection, 1943-1945
- Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation
- Historical Images of Carbon County
- Hot Springs County Museum & Cultural Center Photos
- Indian Peoples of the Northern Great Plains Photos
- Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum
- Laramie County Library Digital Photographs
- Laramie Old Photos
- Library of Congress Prints & Photographs – Wyoming
- Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog
- Meeteetse Museums – Meeteetse
- Museum of the Rockies Photo Archive Online
- National Archives – Digital Photograph Collections
- Northwest Wyoming Photographs
- Old Timey Wyoming Pics
- Park County Photo Archives
- Plains to Peak Collective Photos
- Rock Springs Historical Museum
- Smithsonian Images
- Sublette County Photographic History
- Sweetwater County Galleries
- Sweetwater County Historical Museum
- University of Wyoming Digital Collections
- Vintage Cheyenne Photos
- Western History – Wyoming Photos
- White Grass Heritage Project
- Wyoming Ancient Faces
- Wyoming Dead Fred
- Wyoming Penny Postcards
- Wyoming Photographers Digital Collections
- Wyoming State Archives Photo Collection
- Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office Photo Database
- Wyoming State Historical Society Photo Search
- Wyoming Tales and Trails Photographs
- Wyoming, DP.LA Photos
- Wyoming, Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives
- Wyoming, History of the American West, 1860-1920
For historical photos from other states as well as articles about photo research, please visit the Photos page.
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!