52 Weeks of Online American Digital Archives and Databases: Colorado

This is the sixth post in a weekly series of Online American Digital Archives and Databases found for free at state, county, municipal, college and university history, library, and archive websites, as well as public and private library and museum sites, and historical and genealogical society sites.

3DFlags.com

Colorado State Archives - http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/ - as well as being the entry page to the Historical Records Database, the Family History Page, and the State Digital Archives (see next three entries), you can also check out D-Day Radio Broadcasts, Governor Owens' Historical Archive and Digital Trademarks

Colorado State Archives Historical Records Database - http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/hrd/index.htm - a searchable database of court, census (federal and Indian), vital, land, military, naturalization, voter, cemetery, and probate records, and much, much more!

Colorado State Archives Digital Archives - http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/digital/index.htm -a small but interesting collection of scanned photographs, postcards, and ephemera arranged by topic (mining, places, government, business, etc.)

Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection - http://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/ - "currently includes 147 newspapers published in Colorado from 1859 to 1923...contains over 477,000 digitized pages and is a joint endeavor of the Colorado State Library, the Colorado Historical Society, and generous donors throughout the state."

Colorado Historical Society - http://www.coloradohistory.org - no digital archives; however, there are online exhibits and many indexes of directories, biographical subjects, and maps, allowing you to determine which resources they have on site/offline.

Colorado Virtual Library - http://www.aclin.org/ - provides access to information resources of Colorado libraries, plus a megasearch engine of the Colorado School of Mines Image Database, the Denver Public Library Western History and Genealogy Photo Collection, and Heritage West

Heritage West - http://www.bcr.org/dps/cdp/hw_search.html - "a database that brings together thousands of digital objects from the collections of museums, libraries, historical societies and archives from throughout the Western United States. Included in this database are photos, documents, artifacts, costumes, diaries, oral histories and manuscripts representing the West's cultural, scientific and historic heritage."

Rocky Mountain Online Archive - http://rmoa.unm.edu/ - a megasearch engine for archival collections in Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming

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Colorado College Tutt Library Special Collections - http://www.coloradocollege.edu/library/index.php/SpecialCollections/#cdp - Century Chest (time capsule), Colorado Springs area early views, Colorado Menus Collection, Camp Amache - Japanese-American Relocation Center in Granada, Sand Creek Papers (1861 - 1864), and Rubén Cobos Collection of Spanish New Mexican Folklore

Colorado Plateau Digital Archives (from Northern Arizona University's Cline Library) - http://www.nau.edu/library/speccoll/digitalarchives.html - "...thousands of vintage and contemporary photographs, diaries and letters, oral history interviews, films, and maps"

Colorado State University Libraries Digital Collections - http://digital.library.colostate.edu/ - includes the University Historic Photograph Collection, Colorado Agricultue and Rural Life Collection, Germans from Russia Collection, Caspar Collins Map Collection, Carpenter Family Collection, and the Rock Mountain Farmers Union Collection

Fort Lewis College Center for Southwest Studies Research - http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/research.shtml - college archives, info on Old Fort Lewis, digital archives includes maps, photographs, postcards and other materials, and naturalizations for Durango County

University of Colorado Digital Library - https://www.cu.edu/digitallibrary/ - aerial photos, Ben Hyde Papers (original maps of Indian and military positions), Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (346 maps of 79 principal cities in 52 counties), plus links to digital collections at other institutions

University of Colorado Boulder Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Collection - http://libluna.lib.ad.colorado.edu/sanborn/index.asp - "346 maps of 79 principal cities in 52 counties covering the years 1883-1922"

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Aspen Historical Society - http://aspenhistorysociety.com/ - shared stories, video gallery archives (skiing to mining), historic photos, Pitkin County marriage records (1882 - 1930), census records (1900 - 1920), city directories and phone books (various years from 1885 - 1933), cemetery records, naturalization records, research papers, some indexes of special collections

Bessemer Historical Society - http://www.steelworks.us/ - museum of industry and culture; history and online photos

Boulder Library Carnegie Branch Library for Local History - http://boulderlibrary.org/carnegie/ - includes oral histories, digital photos, Boulder-Colorado Sanitarium Collection

Clear Creek County Marriage Records Index - http://www.co.clear-creek.co.us/Depts/records.htm

Columbine Genealogical and Historical Society Online Archives - http://www.columbinegenealogy.com/hub/ - member surnames index, Littleton Independent obituary index, Colorado Territory Civil War Volunteer Records 1861-1865, Arapahoe County Marriages 1940 - 1965, Littleton Cemetery records 1869 - 1981, Nickels-Hill-Drinkwine Mortuary records 1915 - 1950, various cemetery locators and indexes, and various church records

Denver County Assessor's Office - http://www.denvergov.org/tabid/37889/Default.aspx?link=http://www.denvergov.org/apps/realpropertyapplication/realproperty.asp&title=Real%20Property - check out an ancestor's home!

Denver Library Western History and Genealogy Collection - http://history.denverlibrary.org/collections/index.html - digital image collection, 10th Mountain Division name database, and the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library Obituary and Biographical databases

Douglas County History Research Center - http://douglascountyhistory.org/ - interactive timeline, aerial and historical photographs, oral histories, Declarations of Intention index, biography index, county censuses, business directories, school and government records, plus much more!

Evans City Cemetery Burial Index - http://www.cityofevans.org/department.cfm?depID=16 - records from 1860 through October 2008

Fort Collins History Connection - http://history.fcgov.com/ -images of historic buildings, city directories, historic maps and photographs, Coloradoan newspaper database and obituary index, oral histories, and much more!

La Plata County Marriage Records Index - http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/inventory/LaPlataCouMarr.htm

Longmont Museum and Cultural Center - http://www.ci.longmont.co.us/museum/research/index.htm -history, timeline, online photos, landmarks, historic architectural survey

Pikes Peak Library District Special Collections - http://www.ppld.org/specialcollections/ - digital photo archives, regional history series available in .pdf or audio downloads, Newsfinder ("contains citations to local news articles and obituaries from the Colorado Springs Gazette and other local newspapers. Wire stories (e.g. AP or Reuters), syndicated columns, editorials, letters to the editor, reviews, births, weddings and anniversaries are not indexed. The site also contains citations to the Colorado Springs Death Registers")

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Check out my Colorado Online Historical Directories and Colorado Online Historical Newspapers pages.