The Galt Archives is a community’s hidden treasure. Tucked away at the basement of the Galt Museum, the archives has been a source of insight and inspiration for many local residents. This is where one can research family history, obtain information about an old house—when it was built and who the previous owners were—and order copies of historical images. Have you seen those large vintage photos at the Park Place Mall? They come from the Galt Archives. The historical photos at the Lethbridge Herald? Yes, they too come from our archives. So do local vintage images that you see in lawyer’s offices, senior homes and restaurants.

We are very proud of our photographic collection, which is among the richest in the province. We have close to 600,000 photographs! Our most frequently used collection is the Lethbridge Herald fonds, which includes images produced by the Herald’s photographers from the 1950s and into the early 1990s. If your picture appeared in the newspaper in the 1970s or 1980s, we likely have the original negative and you can order a print or digital copy. Our images can be browsed on the Galt’s website at galtmuseum.com/archives-search. Just enter a keyword or a last name to open a window into the Lethbridge’s past.

We also care about making this experience as easy as possible by providing guidance and education to our visitors. Archivist Andrew Chernevych and Archives Assistant Trish Purkis are always happy to help. On August 31, we offer a workshop on how to preserve old photographs by scanning them in high resolution. In addition, the archives offers its high quality scanners to be used by local residents for scanning their own pictures, negatives included. One just need to make an appointment with the archives staff. And, finally, we regularly post some awesome images on our Facebook page, check them out!