10/05/2026
📸 Museum Monday 📸
Bringing Harlingen's History Back into Focus
Inside these boxes are thousands of moments from our community's past - and we're beginning to see them again.
The Harlingen Arts & Heritage Museum is home to an extensive collection of original Valley Morning Star photographic negatives, preserving decades of life in Harlingen and the Rio Grande Valley.
From community events and local businesses to buildings, streets, and the people who called this area home, these negatives captured everyday moments that became part of our history.
Now comes the enormous job of bringing them back to light.
With newly acquired specialized scanning equipment, we're beginning the process of digitizing, identifying, and preserving these historic images. One negative at a time, photographs that may not have been seen in decades are becoming visible again.
And when we say this is a big project, we mean it! Take a look at those boxes. 👀
Each contains folders of negatives waiting to be examined, scanned, and identified. That's also where you may eventually come in. As more images are digitized, we hope our community can help us recognize familiar faces, businesses, buildings, and places.
Because preserving history isn't only about saving an image. It's about remembering the story behind it.
📸 Swipe through for a behind-the-scenes look at the project - from the boxes and original negatives to history coming back into focus.
📍 Harlingen Arts & Heritage Museum
🕙 Tuesday–Saturday | 10 AM–4 PM
🎟️ FREE Admission | 🌐 myhahm.org
