Tuesday's Tip: National Archives of Norway Historic Photo Archive

Earlier this year, the National Archives of Norway launched its archive of historic photographs. The images come from state, family, business, photographic, and press archives, and date from the 1880s to 1980.

The National Archives of Norway's press release provides more information about the photo archive. The direct link to the photo archive can be found at https://foto.digitalarkivet.no/fotoweb/. There is a section for historic photos and a section for photos of Esso service stations.

The photos are arranged by county (fylke), but it is also possible to search by keyword. I found some photos of places in which my ancestors lived.

The photo below shows the northern harbor in Haugesund, Rogaland, Norway. Before she emigrated, my 2nd-great-grandmother Marthe Elisabeth Eriksdatter (later Erickson)  spent some time living in Haugesund.

Nordre havn, Haugesund, Stavangers amt. 1900-1910. Riksarkivet [National Archives], Havnedirektoratet [Harbor Directorate]. Public domain. Arkivverkets fotoarkiv.

Some of my ancestors lived in Seljord, Telemark, Norway. The photo below shows Dyrskuplassen, the site of the annual agricultural show Dyrsku'n, which is held in Seljord.

Aerial photograph of Dyrskuplassen, Seljord, 1964. Statsarkivet i Kongsberg [State Archives in Kongsberg], Seljord Dyrsku. CC BY-SA. Arkivverkets fotoarkiv.

If you have Norwegian ancestors, try looking through this collection to see if you can find photos of ancestral places.