Historical Photographs and Postcards

The collection depicts life and history in Sonoma County from the 1860s to the present through images of logging, agriculture, architecture, parades, families and more.

Note: Images concerned with wine and winemaking, the Sonoma County Fair and aerial views of the County may also be found in other collections, as will photographs originally owned by other institutions such as the Sonoma County Historical Society. Browsing or searching all collections will allow you to find images within the entire Sonoma County Local History & Culture Collections.

Town of Bodega, California, 1927

Train trestle on the Petaluma River, Petaluma, California, 1997

Browse Collection

The Luther Burbank Home & Gardens Collection of photographs, postcards and greeting cards draws from the archives of a unique urban garden located at the corner of Santa Rosa and Sonoma Avenues in Santa Rosa, California. The home and gardens are a registered National, State & City Historic Landmark

Burbank and Young Lady in Santa Rosa

African Daisies

Browse Collection

Photographs, postcards and greeting cards from the Western Sonoma County Historical Society's West County Museum. The collection focuses on the history of Sonoma County west of the Santa Rosa Valley and the 101 corridor, with a particular emphasis on the Sebastopol and Graton areas. The heart of the collection comes from Sebastopol historian William S. Borba's own collection.

Kathi Skinner, the Apple Blossom Queen of 1966

1905 Queen Anne cottage, Sebastopol, California, 1975

Browse Collection

Individual photographs and examples of commercial publications featuring photos by Don Meacham (1916-2010), photojournalist for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and freelance photographer.

Forsyth Tires, Santa Rosa, California, 1966

'Grapes of Wrath' fundraiser, 1962

Browse Collection

The images in this collection have been drawn from the archives of the Sonoma County Historical Society, which were reproduced by the Sonoma County Library and form a significant component of the Library's image collection. The SCHS Collection chronicles many aspects of Sonoma County life, including many images of people, places and events in western Sonoma County area from the late 1800s through the 1950s, collected by Occidental historian, Harry Lapham.

Freight train at Valley Ford

Southern Pacific train transfer ferry "Contra Costa," about 1925

Browse Collection

Both commercial and real-photo postcards, most from the 1890s through the 1930s. While the majority of postcards depict Sonoma County scenes and businesses, the collection also includes a significant number of postcards depicting the destruction in San Francisco wrought by the 1906 earthquake.

Vallejo's Petaluma Adobe in Petaluma, California, about 1955

Clifford & McConnell Electric Hotel, Forestville

Browse Collection

In addition to our large, image-rich collections, we have a number of smaller Local History & Culture and also archival collections that include many historical photographs, as well as several topical groups gathering images and more from across multiple collections.

Our local community helped create this collection by sharing the digital versions of their historical photographs, postcards, documents and more. The majority of items were scanned on our first Public Scan Day, co-sponsored by the Historical Society of Santa Rosa, took place on Nov. 5, 2016 at the Sonoma County History and Genealogy Library with the theme, "Preserving Santa Rosa Memories."

A collection of historical photographs compiled by Sonoma County historian Gaye LeBaron in the course of research for her weekly columns in the Press Democrat newspaper (Santa Rosa, Calif.) and for her books.

The Russian River Historical Society Collection includes historical images showing life in the lower Ruistorical images showing life in the lower Russian River area from Hilton to Jenner

The images in this collection are taken from the archives of the Sonoma County Bar Association. Photographs of SCBA members and events chronicle the history of the legal profession in Sonoma County.

Images of historical interest of the Sonoma County wine industry from the 1870s through the 1990s. They document the immigrants and Utopians who founded the early wineries, wine families, the vineyards and wine production, promotional postcards, and the many varieties of wine created in Sonoma County.

The Aerial Imagery of Sonoma County and Northern California topical group includes photographs taken from the air and the tops of tall buildings. The group records changes in the landscape of Sonoma County and Northern California over the second half of the 20th century.

The Burbankiana topical group brings together Luther Burbank-related materials from across all collections, with the majority drawn from the Luther Burbank Home & Gardens Collection, as well as substantial contributions from the Western Sonoma County Historical Society and the Sonoma County Library Photograph Collection.

Explore the rich history of dairying in Sonoma County through the Dairying in the North Bay topical group. Many of the images and other materials come from area dairying families.

At one time, Petaluma was known as the "Egg Capital of the World," sparking such nicknames as "Chickaluma." Petaluma hosted the only known poultry drugstore and is the place where the egg incubator was invented by Lyman Byce in 1879. The Sonoma County Poultry Collection documents this history through images, newspaper clippings and more.

Passenger, freight, and logging trains from across Sonoma County and Northern California.

The items in this topical group are drawn from the Fair archives and the collections of the Sonoma County Library. The images, videos and other materials chronicle the Sonoma County Fair from the earliest days through the present.

The Wine Country Photos includes images of historical interest for the Sonoma County wine industry from the 1870s through the present. These images portray the winemakers, companies, and vineyards of Sonoma County, past and present.