If you want to see what your street looked like a century ago, or how much your town centre has changed since the 1850s, you can find out at this website!
DigitalNZ.org contains over 30 million digital items including photos, videos, newspapers, maps, audio recordings, artworks, and news reports. The items are sourced from libraries, museums, government departments and more, so the collection is expansive.
Every NZ city and town has a vast collection of photos to go with it.
In the form of detailed sketches, the early days of Auckland’s Queen Street in the 1840s can even be viewed!
Credit: DigitalNZ
Here's what Dunedin looked like in the 1920s, including Princes Street and the Botanical Gardens
Credit: DigitalNZ
Wellington's Courtenay Place in the 1930s is still recognisable, yet so much has changed!
Credit: DigitalNZ
In the 1900s, Palmerston North's Grand Hotel was standing tall, and the members of the Manawatu Golf Club had big smiles on their faces.
Credit: DigitalNZ
Queen Elizabeth II’s 1970 visit to New Zealand (she even went to Fielding!) is even well documented on the site!
Credit: DigitalNZ
There are over 5 million individual images to peruse, with the search function going back as far as the year 1000! However, those images from a millennium ago are of artefacts - still very cool though!
If you’re in the mood to peruse through old pictures. Last month a plethora of pictures from concerts in New Zealand unsurfaced. Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, Rod Stewart, and more all performed at Auckland’s Western Springs in the late '70s, and there are plenty of photos to prove it.
Who doesn’t love exploring NZ’s history?
