Our Best Resource for Historic American Architecture, Engineering, and Landscapes

The following is a guest post by Helena Zinkham, Chief, Prints & Photographs Division.

Do you need ideas for fixing up an old house? Close-up views of the Statue of Liberty? The dimensions of a Spanish mission? All that information and more is ready for you in the HABS/HAER/HALS Collection with 450,000 drawings, photographs, and historical reports that document 45,000 sites throughout the United States. (The full collection name is Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record / Historic American Landscapes Survey.)

Black-and-white photograph of large two-story house with dozens of people on the covered front porch. — *Perspective view of the north elevation, looking from the northeast – Frederick Douglass House, 1411 W Street, Southeast, Washington, District of Columbia, DC.* Photo by Jet Lowe, 1988. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.dc0092/photos.379093p

Architectural plan for first floor of house. — *Frederick Douglass House, 1411 W Street, Southeast, Washington, District of Columbia, DC. [First Floor Plan]* Drawing by Maurice D. Hoelting, 1964. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.dc0092/sheet.00002a

Family historians and movie makers can find accurate sources to bring to life everything from kitchens and outhouses to the Miami Beach Art Deco historic district and a New England fishing village.

Black and white photograph of wooden outhouse among shrubs, with mountains visible in background. — *Front view, from southeast (1992) – Pfeiffer Homestead, Outhouse, 90 feet north of Homestead Cabin, Moose, Teton County, WY.* Photo by Alan Bucknam, 1992. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.wy0371/photos.374014p

View of two-story art deco style building, with word "Century" positioned over entrance. — *East Elevation – Century Hotel, 140 Ocean Drive, Miami, Miami-Dade County, FL.* Photo by Walter Smalling, Jr., 1980. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.fl0277/photos.052098p

Drawing of village on water with sailboat in foreground and hills in the background. Several wooden structures are visible in between. — *Lobster Cove, Annisquam, Essex County, MA.* Drawing by J. C. Halden, 1935. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.ma0624/sheet.00004a

Students and teachers can learn about the workings of steel mills, ranches, and military bases.

Black-and-white photograph of an industrial site -- Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iron Company Furnaces. — View from the east, showing the stock bins in the foreground, the #1 blast furnace on the right, stoves in the center, and the #2 blast furnace on the left. Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iron Company Furnaces… Birmingham, Jefferson County, AL. Photo by Jack E. Boucher, 1974. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.al0249/photos.002870p

Black and white photographic view of barn with dappled light effect. — *Interior, second floor, west side – Ritter Ranch, Barn, Old Dolores Highway, Dolores, Montezuma County, CO.* Photo by Jet Lowe, 1981. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.co0133/photos.021721p

Armchair travelers can visit landmark skyscrapers, national monuments, and Frank Lloyd Wright designs.

View of side of tall building roof line looking up toward the sky. — *Baltimore Trust Company Building, 10 Light Street, Baltimore, Baltimore (Independent City), MD.* Photo by James W. Rosenthal, 2001. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md1566/color.214969c

Photograph of mid-century modern house with two large threes planted on strip of grass opposite sidewalk. — *South facade from southwest – Frederick C. Robie House, 5757 Woodlawn Avenue, Chicago, Cook County, IL.* Photo by Cervin Robinson, 1963. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.il0039/photos.061028p

We’ve also heard from dollhouse makers and historic building preservation specialists who rely heavily on HABS/HAER/HALS.

Browsing the subject index is my favorite way to enjoy the riches in this vast collection. Since HABS/HAER/HALS began its valuable mission in 1933, the National Park Service’s Heritage Documentation Program has recorded a phenomenal range of topics.

Screenshot of HABS/HAER/HALS subject index. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/index/subjects/

Are you already a HABS/HAER/HALS fan? We’d love to hear what you’ve found in the collection. From our statistics we know how heavily the collection is used: about 6 million page views and nearly 70,000 downloads per year.

Learn More:

Explore the HABS/HAER/HALS collection online.
Enjoy a highlight from every state.
Read about the Heritage Documentation Programs that create the HABS/HAER/HALS photographs, drawings, and historical reports at the National Park Service.
View blog posts that highlight special features of the HABS/HAER/HALS collection.
Check out the books in the Norton/Library of Congress Visual Sourcebook in Architecture, Design, and Engineering series, which are partly based on HABS/HAER/HALS collection material.

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