Albuquerque Historical Postcard Collection at the Special Collections Library includes more than 12,000 postcards published throughout the 20th Century. Assembled from donations received over many years, it is organized into geographical and subject categories.

How this digital project began. . .

In 2001, as Albuquerque hosted the national celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of the establishment of Route 66, the Library mounted an exhibit using postcards of scenes along the entire route, and featuring Rt. 66 through Albuquerque and New Mexico.

When a New Mexico Postcard Club was established in August 2004, the idea emerged for an exhibit of Albuquerque postcards as part of the City's Tricentennial Celebration. This resulted in a traveling exhibit with 30 panels of 24 cards each, rotating throughout the Albuquerque/Bernalillo Library System. The exhibit included postcards from collections of the Library, the Albuquerque Museum, University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University, and eight members of the New Mexico Postcard Club.

The Library has organized its original cards and a large group of color photocopies of cards from the traveling exhibit into 26 categories used for the individual display panels. These images have proved so valuable in providing local history information that we are now working to create a digital database for enhanced public access.

Click Category to browse postcards