The Norwalk History Room Collection

The Norwalk History Room collection includes over 40,000 photographs, dating from the mid-19th-century to the present day. These images cover all aspects of life in Norwalk over this period. Nearly 8,000 have been cataloged and can be searched by subject, and many of these have been scanned into digital form.

Most of these cataloged items are only searchable through indexes in the History Room, but we have begun to put our cataloged images online, starting with our postcard collection. About 600 images are now available through our online site, the Norwalk Library History Room Online Database.

Norwalk Hour Portrait Listing

In 2010, when the Norwalk Hour was moving to new offices, it donated to the Norwalk Museum a large collection of photographs from their old files. This collection included nearly 10,000 portraits of 20th-century date, most of local interest. This portrait collection is now part of the Norwalk History Room’s holdings and the names of the people in the collection have been listed alphabetically on the Norwalk History Room’s webpage. 

Digital Reproductions of Norwalk History Room Photographs

The Norwalk History Room can provide digital scans of most of its photograph holdings. Many of the photographs have already been scanned, but when requested new scans can be made.

Requests for copies of photographs can be made through the History Room in person, by telephone, or by email, with delivery by e-mail or cloud services. Payment in full is required in advance. Charges for this service are given below.

Though the Norwalk Public Library History Room provides scans, it does not have copyright to all the materials in its collection. It is the user’s responsibility to determine if the intended use violates any copyright laws. The History Room reserves the right to withhold permission for the reproduction of any materials.

Photo Reproduction Fees:

Copy of Existing Scan: $ 5.00
New Scan: $15.00

For personal use of these scans, there is no further charge. Personal use includes use for academic or research purposes, or for display in private home or office.

Public Use Fees:

Public use includes display of an image in a public space or the publication of an image. The fees are per item and are in addition to the Photo Reproduction Fees. Permission for one-time public use of reproductions of History Room materials must be obtained in advance. The credit line for the images should be: “Norwalk Public Library History Room.”

Non-profit organizations: $20.00
Commercial organizations: $40.00

At the discretion of the History Room staff, the public use fees may be waived for non-profit local history organizations.