1936.015 - Governor Clyde Tingley joins Opal Bonney, Virginia Rigdon (31), Tura McWilliams (27) & Eleanor Wheeler in their Cavalcade burro-cart. 1936 approx. - SENM Historical Society Collection

The NLB Database contains 20,000+ historical photographs spanning 1830 to 1992.
(The archival process for 1993 to present-day is currently in progress. If you’d like to help, click here.)
For now, Galleries are in chronological order and are searchable by Keyword, surname, place, event, year, or photo number (1800.001).
Anything highlighted yellow and underlined on our website can be clicked to learn even more about a person, place, or thing.
• To read photo captions, select “View Present Day Location” to reveal each photos approximate current-day location or discover the entire time period chronologically by clicking “Visit Gallery”Empty heading

1897: The Pecos Valley Railroad Superintendent's home. First known as the Miller home, later as the Thayer home. View Present Day Location or Visit 1830-1900 Gallery

1907: George Frederick does his softwire act, reclining on the wire before Joyce's bank and store. View Present Day Location or View 1901-1908 Gallery

1910: 3 women and a little boy at the front of Carlsbad Spring and shelter, 2 buggies in the background. View Present Day Location or View 1909-1917 Gallery

1918: Jake Linn's People's Theater closed due to the 1918 Flu Pandemic. “Ther’ll be no Picture Show until we’ve stamped out the influenza. Buy Liberty Bonds and stamp out the Kaiser.”View Present Day Location or View 1918-1923 Gallery

1926: The People's Mercantile Store in flames, two young boys at center and the Ozark Trails monument to the left. This fire also destroyed The Sweet Shop, which was at 126 South Canyon in this same building. View Present Day Location or View 1924-1929 Gallery

1931: Looking west up Fox Street to the Armory, Reclamation Building and Telephone Company Building at left. View Present Day Location or View 1930-1934 Gallery

1938: The Stanley Tire Co. open for business. View Present Day Location or View 1935-1940 Gallery

1941: 6th Company of the New Mexico State Guard (23 men) marching south on Canal Street past the Crawford Hotel with rifles. Only the commanding officer, Hugh Hall, is known. Hilty Motors at 101 North Canal is in the background. This march is recounted in Calvin Graef’s Bataan Death March survival story ‘Ride The Waves To Freedom’.Present Location or View 1941-1944 Gallery

1945 - 1948

1949 - 1951

1952 - 1955

1956 - 1960

1961 - 1962

1963 - 1964

1965

1966

1967

1968

1969 - 1970

1971 - 1972

1973 - 1975

1976 - 1978

1979 - 1980

1981 - 1982

1983 - 2022

1897 Thayer Home at the corner of Bonbright and Canal Streets in Carlsbad, New Mexico

A low, rectangular building with multiple windows, resembling southwestern architecture, surrounded by a gravel landscape with sparse desert plants. A sign near the street reads 'U-1st Community Federal Credit Union' and advertises low-rate financing on auto loans. A street and sidewalk are visible in the foreground.

Historical photo of a building on fire with smoke and flames, a sign reading 'Peoples Merc Co', and a crowd of people watching in Carlsbad, New Mexico.

Street view of two parked vehicles, including a pickup truck, in front of a building with trees and a therapy center sign.

The La Caverna Motor Inn (b. 1928, Trost & Trost) as it stood in 1965. It was demolished in 1980. Present Location: 227 S. Canal St. - Carlsbad, New Mexico — The La Caverna Motor Inn (b. 1928, Trost & Trost) as it stood in 1965. It was demolished in 1980.
Present Location: 227 S. Canal St. - Carlsbad, New Mexico