Want to know what Mallory Square looked like in the 1970s? Curious about your house in the 1950s? Or about a hurricane, a steamship, a shop on Duval Street?
Check out the Monroe County Public Library’s Flickr page at flickr.com/photos/keyslibraries/. All images are free to access and to download in multiple sizes. Captions and dates are provided when known, along with the photographer or source of the photo.
Twenty years ago, the county library’s Florida Keys History Center, headquartered at the Key West branch, 700 Fleming St., began scanning and uploading historic photos from its collection onto Flickr, the online photo sharing site.
Since then, the images have been viewed more than 50 million times. There are more than 24,000 photos on the site, with more being scanned and uploaded on a regular basis.
“The collection of photographs is used for many purposes. Perhaps the most popular are by people wanting to see historic homes and buildings or to find photos of family members,” said Corey Malcom, lead historian of the history center. “Interestingly, the images of fish catches from decades ago have proved to be important to science as they are documentation of historic fish sizes that are available nowhere else. And we are regularly visited by artists who use the photos as a basis for their creativity.”
Scanning the historic photos began in 2001 as a project funded by a federal grant, said Anne Rice, the library’s assistant director of systems and projects. She and the late historian Tom Hambright scanned 800 photos in a partnership with Florida International University, which posted them on its website.
“After the grant ended, we kept scanning. The process revealed fascinating details — faces, handwriting, interiors and other elements that could not be fully appreciated with the naked eye,” Rice said.
The images are used to illustrate the History Center’s daily Today In Keys History column, which is posted on the Florida Keys History Center website at keyslibraries.org/keyshistory, along with the center’s Facebook and Instagram accounts.
The site’s popularity illustrates “the vital role that accessible historical archives play in preserving and sharing the Keys’ story,” said Kimberly Matthews, senior director of libraries. “This collection has become an invaluable resource for residents, historians, educators, genealogists and visitors seeking to understand the people, places and events that have shaped the Florida Keys. The Monroe County Public Library is honored to steward this important piece of our cultural heritage and to ensure that these images remain freely available for all who wish to explore the Keys’ unique story.”
The library does not claim copyright on any of the images. Responsibility for identifying and satisfying any copyright claims to the original images must be assumed by those wishing to reproduce the images.
