Photograph Collection

Our photographic collection is composed of more than 13,000 images from the Coastal Bend region that date from the United States Civil War era. Included among the holdings are snapshots of individuals, still photographs of bridges, homes, public and private buildings, street scenes, educational institutions, parades, musical concerts and events, festivals, farming, ranching, sporting events, outdoor scenery, aerial views, transportation, churches and convents, hospitals, Presidio LaBahia, Mission Espiritu Santo, natural disasters, artifacts, military bases and personnel, and coastal settings. Additionally there are an undetermined number of Victoria Advocate negatives in thirty-two file cabinet drawers, spanning the years of 1950 to 1984.

Over 50% of the collection is indexed. In 2001-2003, 3,500 negatives from the collection were digitized as part of a TexTreasures Grant. Those digitized photographs are available for browsing and searching on this website.

Reproduction of a photograph in the collection is available for a nominal fee.

Read about and search the index to our new collection: Victoria Advocate Photograph Morgue