Yellowstone Lake, Park County Archives
Yellowstone Falls, Park County Archives
From the Colorado Virtual Library
The Park County Archives has added almost 15,000 items from their historic photograph collection to the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) through the Plains to Peaks Collective, a partnership between the state libraries of Wyoming and Colorado. Their vast collection includes over 20,000 images relating to the town of Cody, Park County, and the region. Park County was organized in 1911 and its boundaries include most of the Shoshone National Forest, one of the first nationally protected land areas, and part of Yellowstone National Park. Researchers exploring this collection can discover beautiful scenic views and learn about early visitor experiences within these two regions.
The collection also holds images of notable Park County ghost towns such as Marquette, which is now found under the Buffalo Bill Reservoir; Kirwin, a turn-of-the-century mining camp which at its peak was home to 200 people — miners and their families; Wiley, the center of a failed 3 million dollar irrigation project that went bankrupt in 1909; and the Elk Basin oil field camp built by the oil company to house employees and their families.
Heart Mountain Relocation Center, Park County Archives
The Heart Mountain Relocation Center, a War Relocation Authority (WRA) facility, that confined Japanese Americans from August 1942 and until November 1945 is also represented in this rich collection. Nearly eleven thousand evacuees were interned there making it the 3rd largest city in Wyoming.
The Park County Archives joins their fellow Wyoming institutions in DPLA: the Wyoming State Library, University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming, and University of Wyoming Art Museum.
The WSL supports Wyoming’s involvement in Plains to Peaks using federal Library Services & Technology Act funds through the Institute of Museum and Library Services. If you would like to become a PPC partner or if you have questions about sharing your collections with the DPLA contact Leigh Jeremias, at ljeremias@coloradovirtuallibrary.org.