ITD's Historical Photo Archive already viewed nearly 27,000 times

The free historical photo archive, unveiled to employees a few days before it was rolled out to the public May 1, has already been accessed nearly 27,000 times. The Bureau of Public Roads, D6, D5, and HQ collections have so far generated the most activity.

Digitizing these photos was the idea of longtime former Public Information Officer Jeff Stratten, and began a few years ago. More than 30,000 images are searchable on the site and available for download.

"These images needed to be preserved, and we needed to find a way for the department and public to access them," Stratten explained. "The archive is an excellent time capsule of Idaho history."

ITD’s free photo collection is at itd.idaho.gov/photohistory

Former ITD Architectural Historian Dan Everhart identified funding for the project, Web Specialist Pauline Davis spearheaded the ITD web connection to the project, and the Idaho State Archives did all the digitizing of the photos under contract with ITD.

The department hopes to continue adding to the collection, if funding is available.

Published 05-25-18