A gentle reminder: Just because these pictures are online is no guarantee that they are in the public domain (copyright-free). You should assume that all pictures are protected by copyright unless otherwise indicated. If you use them without permission in your blogs, websites, publications, or documents, you do so at your own risk.  To get permission to use a picture, contact the website where you found the picture, not us.  You'll find public domain pictures here.

Links are sorted into these categories:

• Aerial Photographs
• Contemporary Photographs
• Picture Books
• Postcards
• Everything Else
  

Indicates a fee-based site.

• Aerial Photographs, Erie County
  At present, photos from the 1920s and from 1951 are online, courtesy of the Erie County Department of Public Works, Division of Highways
• Aerial Photographs at UB
  Images from 1927-1929, 1966, 1978, and "recent" are online in low resolution courtesy of the University at Buffalo Libraries
• Buffalo & Niagara Frontier From the Air
  Published in 1924, this short picture book has early black & white aerial views of the city
• Fairchild Aerial Surveys
  Has a handful of aerial views of Bethlehem Steel from 1949
• HistoricAerials.com
  Coverage includes Erie and Niagara Counties, with the ability to compare the same location from the 1960s and today side by side. Pretty impressive.

•  Buffalo News Photo Search
  Online archives may date back as far as 1990
•  BuffaloPix.com
  Lots of recent images
• Cyburbia.org Gallery
  The ultimate urban planning website, founded by a Buffalonian, has about 50 pages of contemporary photos for a total of over 400 pictures of Buffalo
•  Heritage Architecture of Buffalo, NY
  About 50 color pictures of favorite buildings and landmarks, with a link for easy ordering
• Karl R. Josker, Buffalo albums
  Mostly current photos of Crystal Beach, churches, bars, houses, urban art, fire houses, theaters, and more.
• WNYfilm.com
  Black & white photos of Buffalo's most photogenic scenery, intended to promote Buffalo as a movie location

• Beautiful Buffalo: A New Year's Greeting, Jan. 1, 1911
  A short but delightful booklet distrubuted to subscribers of the Buffalo Express
  
• History of the Germans in Buffalo and Erie County, NY
  Full-page scans from the 1898 book with pictures of all kinds of Buffalo scenery and text in English & German
• Illustrated Buffalo: The Queen City of the Lakes
  Published in 1890, this little book has lovely engravings of city scenes
• Inkling of Buffalo
  Charming book of pen & ink vignettes from 1886
• Latest and Best Views of the Pan-American Exposition
  Full text of the picture book from 1901
• Men of Buffalo
  This 1902 book features portraits of prominent male Buffalonians
• Neely's Photographs: Prominent American Cities
  Published in 1899. See pp. 79-98 for Buffalo's waterfront, prominent buildings, etc.
• Official Views of the Pan-American Exposition
  by C.D. Arnold, the official Exposition photographer
• Pan-American, Buffalo, and Niagara Falls: A Picturesque Souvenir
  Full text of the picture book from 1901
• Pan-American Exposition Illustrated
  by C.D. Arnold, the official Exposition photographer
• Pictorial Yearbook and Calendar for 1888
  Published by the Buffalo Express
• Picture Book of Earlier Buffalo
  Published in 1912, this volume has hundreds of photographs of buildings and streetscapes that aren't there anymore
• Snap-Shots on the Midway of the Pan-Am Expo...
  
• All of the attractions are here
• Some Things in and About Buffalo
  14 black and white images from an 1884 book
• Views of Old-Time Buffalo
  Published in 1916, drawn from Picture Book of Earlier Buffalo
  

•   CardCow.com
  Around six hundred vintage color postcards of Buffalo for sale
• Detroit Publishing Co. Postcards
  About two dozen picture postcards of Buffalo, care of the New York Publlic Library
• Digital Metro New York
  Has an online collection called Waterways of New York. Search on Buffalo to get about 30 picture postcards of the Buffalo harbor. 
• FamilyOldPhoto.com Buffalo
  Has a small number vintage postcards. Site also accepts submissions, so you can upload your vintage pictures here
• Patrick Mahoney Postcard Collection
  Several dozen local cards in 10 categories
• Penny Postcards from New York--Erie County
  Presently has over 40 picture postcards
• StaffAnnouncer.com
  Presently has about 600 picture postcards. Brought to you by Steve Cichon.
•   Traveling Picture Show
  Has a large selection of vintage Buffalo postcards available for purchase as greetings cards and frameable enlargements
• Vintage Buffalo Views
  Period postcards brought to you by Chris Andrle
• Vintage Views of New York
  Scroll down for about two dozen period postcards of Buffalo

• America from the Great Depression to World War II: Black and White Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945
  Seen here are almost 350 photos of the Buffalo harbor, women war workers (many identified by name), Easter mass at Corpus Christi church, Lakeview Nursery School, and other subjects. Brought to you by the Library of Congress.
• American Memory: Photos and Prints
  Enter Buffalo, New York at the search screen provided here by the Library of Congress and get over 900 vintage images
• Archives of Ontario, Canada
  Why does Canada have pictures of Buffalo? I don't know, but enter Buffalo at the search screen to get about 35 photos, some of which are aerial views of the Buffalo harbor & industry circa 1919, plus a few pictures of the Peace Bridge and the Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo railway.
• Biniasz.com
  Has pages on Bufalo Polonia, St. Stanislaus Church, Lost Buffalo, and the Central Terminal. Brought to you by Marty Biniasz.
• Buffalo History Works
  Has about 100 vintage photos
• Buffalo Lantern Slides, ca. 1890-1910
  Brought to you by the Rare Book Room of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library
  
• Buffalo, NY: Before & After
  Pairs photos from fifty or more years ago with views from today
• Buffalonian.com Photo Gallery
  Has a few hundred vintage photos online, many care of the Western New York Heritage Institute
• Buffalo's Architecture: The Past in Pictures
  About two dozen photographically-illustrated pages from The City of Buffalo, New York, (Portland, ME: L.H. Nelson Co., 1907)
• BuffPics
  Various city scenes from the 1980s and 1990s, plus a stranded bus from the Blizzard of '77
• C.L. Pond Series
  Seven of the stereoviews shown here were taken in downtown Buffalo in the 1870s. Brought to you by the George Eastman House.
• Detroit Publishing Co.
  About 175 photos of Buffalo from 1880-1920 can be seen by entering Buffalo at the search screen provided here by the Library of Congress.
• East Side Working Group
  Has some user-contributed photos of homes, schools, businesses, etc. on Buffalo's east side
• The Erie Canal
  Presently has 8 groups of vintage photos online
• Fort Erie Public Library Local History Digital Archive
  Search on Buffalo and use the dropdown menu to return a maximum of All items to see over 200 postcards, pictures, and clippings
• George Nathan Newman Collection of Photographs of Vanished and Vanishing Buffalo
  About 200 pictures from the 19th century, brought to you by the Buffalo & Erie County Publlic Library
• Great Lakes Images
  From "Maritime History of the Great Lakes" digital library. Has pictures of passenger vessels, freight vessels, factories, the harbor and waterfront, etc.
• Harvard University Libraries Visual Information Access [VIA]
  Enter Buffalo and change the drop-down menu to Place to get about 190 vintage pictures of buildings, especially charities and social services facilities, including settlement houses, municipal baths, the Erie County Almshouse, St. Francis Asylum, and St. Mary's Asylum, plus a selection of trade cards 
• Hello Buffalo
  Offers three groups of pictures: Buildings, Panoramics, and People.  
• Images of Western New York
  Pan Am photos, "Buffalo 1897," and an online album where you can upload your contributions
• Kindred Roots Online: Erie County, New York
  About 35 vintage and contemporary scenes, including Sattler's and Fisherman's Wharf
• Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division
  Read the disclaimer, click on the blue Search the Catalog box, and enter Buffalo as a keyword.  You will get almost 1,000 pictures of all kinds and vintages.
  
• New York Public Library Digital Gallery
  Search on Buffalo NY to get over 130 photos, prints, and other interesting ephemera, like advertising memorabilia and Hotel Statler menus
• New York State Archives
  Enter Buffalo at the Search link to get over 70 vintage images, a good number of which are scans of the 1845 census of the Buffalo Creek Reservation
• Old Buffalo
  Black & white photos at Flickr from a 1913 Buffalo Express souvenir brochure, with a few other random shots
• Our Ontario
  Enter Buffalo in the geographic location box and limit media type to Images to get about 50 engravings and photographs, mostly of waterfront scenes
• Pan-American Exposition Playing Cards, 1901
  All 52 cards have been reproduced, each one with a different view from the Exposition. Brought to you by the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site.
• Panoramic Photographs, 1851-1991
  From the collection of the Library of Congress. Seen here are 17 views of Buffalo.
• Photographing the Pan Am
  A collection of professional and amateur photographs of the 1901 Exposition, brought to you by the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural site.
•  PictureHistory.com
  Search on Buffalo New York to get about 40 vintage photographs and engravings
• The Relationship of the Canal to Buffalo and its Harbor, 1845-2000
  About 25 period illustrations and photographs of the Canal District and waterfront
• Smithsonian Institution
  Search on Buffalo, New York and be sure to check the box for Online Media Only, and you'll get 189 images, from ealry 20th century Buffalo gardens in color to 1970s photodocumentary works.
• Stereoscopic Views of Buffalo from the Robert Dennis Collection
  Brought to you by the New York Public Library
• Storefront Churches
  These are the Buffalo pictures that launched photographer Milton Rogovin's career ca. 1960
  
• Tonawanda-Kenmore Historical Society
  Presently has four photo albums online: The Erie Barge Canal, How Western New York Gave Wings to the World, Palmer's Views, and the 1836-1936 Town Centennial booklet.
• Western New York Heritage Press
  Has dozens of vintage photographs, 1900 to the present
• WNYlegacy.org
  Use the drop-down menu to see pictures of Crystal Beach, the Darwin Martin family and house, Holland Land Company maps, and much more