FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is Urban Archive?
Urban Archive is a tech nonprofit that maps archival photos of New York, and other cities around the world. You can explore Urban Archive on iOS and the web.
Where do these photographs come from?
Photographs on Urban Archive are sourced from the digital collections of various museums, libraries, and historic institutions. See a full list of partners here.
How does the map work?
Urban Archive’s map is made up of purple and gray location lots. Purple lots display archival photos geolocated to that address, and gray lots are locations that are not yet associated with an archival image. Purple pins represent sites that are now demolished or that don’t line up with present location lots.
Why don’t some locations have images?
While our partners’ collections can be quite extensive, they don’t yet capture every building in the city. Additionally, in some cases, not every image in our partners’ collections can be mapped. If you’d like to suggest a collection or photograph, contact us using the button below!
How does the search tool work?
Our search tool makes it possible to explore content on Urban Archive without having to rely on the map for discovery. Try typing in a keyword and our search tool will parse through all metadata, posts, stories, and other forms of content Urban Archive. For more about search, check out this tutorial here.
What are posts and stories?
Posts give additional information about images or historic sites on Urban Archive. Usually, they reference an event that was captured or give users additional insight into the history of a location on the map. Here’s a guide to posts on Urban Archive.
Stories are curated lists of locations which are narrated by text from one of our partnering organizations. A set of featured stories display on the homepage and are updated weekly. You can also browse stories using the search bar. Here’s a guide to stories on Urban Archive.
Want to contribute content on the Urban Archive platform? Reach out via email below!
Do you plan to expand to other cities?
Well, yes, actually! We have partners in Newburgh NY, Albany NY, Ogden UT, and Cali Colombia, and a few others in the works. Subscribe for updates on new cities or contact us below if you’re interested in bringing Urban Archive somewhere new.