Researching Historic Homes & Buildings: Photographs

• Museums, Libraries and Archives
  Wyoming State Archives
  American Heritage Center
  Western History Center Casper College
  Local libraries
  Local museums
• Families associated with the building
• Neighbors
• Ask around on online forums, social media and local genealogical and historical societies
• Newspaper articles (Wyoming Newspapers)
• Books and manuscripts

Photographs can tell you many things about a building including:

• Changes over time, including facade, paint, and additions
• Clues to the use of the building
• Clues to construction techniques and architectural style
• Names of businesses or individuals who worked or lived in the building
• Changes to neighborhood or surrounding buildings over time

In this example, the earlier photo of the Nagle Warren Mansion on the left shows a stone exterior while the more current photo shows a predominately stucco exterior. The photo from 2001 also shows a sign at the corner, indicating a change from residential use to a bed and breakfast business.

• Look at photos of the street your building is on or the area of town rather than just searching for the specific building and address
• If your building existed after the 1930s, you may be able to find it on aerial photographs
• If you know the name of individuals, families or businesses in your building, search for their names
• Search for neighboring buildings and families
• If your building is at the location of an annual memorable event, like a parade route, look for photos of that event
• Search by your building's use, for example meat market in Rock Springs
• Search by the name of the building as well as the street address, especially if it is known locally by a different name