The Historic Photo Archives at the Pratt consist of approximately 6,500 historical images documenting community development and activities around Kachemak Bay. There are over 1,200 images of homesteading in early Homer, including a collection of over 50 of the oldest known photographs of family life in this area. More than 600 photos depict life across the bay in Nanwalek, Port Graham, and Seldovia.
The Pratt collections include over 250 maps, including several historic hand-drawn maps of early Homer, a variety of aerial views, and a selection of nautical charts. Together, this collection tells a story of change for our region over the years, but also an idea of what has stayed the same through time.
The Pratt has a wide range of oral histories documenting early life in Homer, and various stories of people and place from around the Kachemak Bay region. These oral histories are used in exhibit development and to bolster artifact stories. This ever-growing collection includes individual interviews going back to the 1970s, group presentations, and community conversations.
The Pratt Museum has a small, non-lending research library that includes museological and natural history periodicals, a large number of subject specific books, and a vertical file of scholarly papers and pertinent subject information. Some of these materials are available to researchers on site.
The Archives of 275 cubic feet preserves community history through various documents, receipts, business records, correspondences, and local ephemera. One of the oldest documents in our holdings is a copy of The Constitution and By-Laws of the King’s County Mining Company from 1898, a document that generates much community interest. Also archived are a variety of local publications such as a range of The Frontiersman from 1947, various copies of Homer’s Idi-odyssey, and volumes 17-41 of Kachemak Bay Bird Watch.