Research Guides: Images: Colorado Images

Historic Colorado Images

Below are specialized collections focusing on U.S. or Western U.S. contents, but there are many other digital collections of images from libraries and museums worldwide. You can often find these digital collections by searching online.

Historic Colorado Photographs: Art Source International
This company has accumulated over 2000 original glass plates, negatives and original photographs of Colorado dating from around 1865 to 1940. Fee-based collection. This site includes photos by well known western photographers such as William Henry Jackson, J.B. Sturtevant (a.k.a. Rocky Mountain Joe), Louis McClure, in addition to many one of a kind images. Many of the photographs illustrate historic Boulder, Denver, and Aspen as well as over 50 other Colorado cities.
The National Archives Catalog
The catalog to the U.S. National Archives, the repository for documents and other materials created in the course of federal government business. Limit the search by 'type' or 'file format' to bring up images and media.
Calisphere
A free online collection of more than 150,000 digitized primary materials contributed by libraries, archives, and museums from all over California.
University of Washington Digital Collections
Features materials such as photographs, maps, newspapers, posters, reports and other media from the University of Washington Libraries, University of Washington Faculty and Departments, and organizations that have participated in partner projects with the UW Libraries. The collections emphasize rare and unique materials.
Early Advertising of the West
Consists of over 450 print advertisements published in local magazines, city directories, and theater pamphlets from 1867 to 1918.
Museum of the Rockies
A preservation and historical collection of photos from the Northern Rockies region of Idah, Montana, and Whyomiing from the 1860's to the 1980's. These images document the people, places, industries, and events of the region.

U.S. West Images

Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog
Search or browse through and view a variety of digital collections related to American history. topics include: music, African American history, presidents, artists, World War I speeches, American travels, poetry, architecture, baseball cards, dance, and more.

Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and Congress of Rough Riders of the World - Circus poster showing cowboys rounding up cattle and portrait of Col. W.F. Cody on horseback. 1899.

Library of Congress: Digital Collections This link opens in a new window
These collections are a gold mine of online primary source materials collected by the world's largest library, The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. United States History is especially well-represented, though the collection breadth is extensive. Contents include as Civil War photographs and music, U.S. slave narratives, women suffrage materials, historic advertising, early maps, music recordings and scores, English dialect recordings, gold rush narratives, cartoons, daguerreotypes, papers of distinguished individuals, Look Magazine photos, labor materials, posters, and much more.