72 Oak Street

P.O. Box 272

Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538

(207) 633-0820

brhs@gwi.net

Hours 10-2 Wed-Sat

Photo Archive

The collection of photographs relating to local history held by the the Boothbay Region Historical Society numbers over 10,000 negatives, prints, scans, and postcards, and is still growing. Besides the large general collection, we are fortunate to have several excellent special collections including one put together by Elizabeth Reed of her family and other local citizens of note; a series of some 2000 negatives of local shipbuilding during World War II made by Navy photographer Herb Douglas; a number of vintage glass negatives donated by Bob Barter and made by photographer J. A. Labbie, and a collection of early Labbie and McDougall & Keefe photographic postcards of local views. 

Other collections filed separately, but cataloged with the general collection, are the Andy Marvin postcard collection in drawer 16, the Towle-Atcheson collection of Southport scenes on glass negatives in drawer 14, and about 260 scenic views by Herb Douglas. Most of the pictures have been cataloged and recorded in the computer.

The cataloged collection is subdivided into major categories by location and/or subject matter, viz: Boothbay, East Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Southport, Squirrel and other islands, vessels, shipyards, and several minor categories. Each geographic location is again subdivided into buildings, street scenes, waterfront scenes, views and panoramas, activities and people. Sub-categories of vessels include schooners, steamers and passenger boats, tugboats, fishing boats and yachts. Various shipyards are cataloged and filed separately, as Sample's, Hodgdon Brothers, or Goudy and Stevens. Older shipyards, for which pictures are scarce, are included in the general collection.

Prefix Descriptions

There were at last count approximately 8,650 photo entries cataloged in the general and shipyard collections, of which many entries include more than one view of a scene and multiple copies.

The finding aid is a computerized database. Each image has a catalog number consisting of a prefix indicating its category (e.g. BHB for Boothbay Harbor buildings or EBWF for East Boothbay waterfront or SB for steamboats) plus a number (001 to 1000 or more). These are arranged in file drawers in alpha-numeric order, the file drawer containing any image is listed in that image's entry in the catalog.

The quality of the photographs varies from professionally excellent to poor, but even the technically poorest may contain information of historical value. Some of the photographs are perhaps 100 years old (with the exception of studio photos, few, if any, date earlier than about 1870). Most cover the period between World War I and the end of World War II.

Although the catalog is printed periodically in hard copy, finding a specific subject is best done by a computer search using one or more "key" words that best describe or identify the subject.

Reprints of most pictures can be made for a modest fee, normally $10. A photographic print will be made from a negative on file, if that is the only image we have of that photo. If we have a print, a scan will be made from the print and reproduced in a photo lab.  Photocopies of photographs may also be made at .50 cents per copy.  Digital images may be emailed as attachments for a $10 fee.

Permission to use text or images from the Boothbay Region Historical Society website is required for any purpose beyond personal use. Uses requiring permission: publication, display, advertising, or posting elsewhere on the Internet.