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For David Nigh, collecting historic postcards of McPherson comes naturally. A 30 year veteran of the U.S. Postal Service, Nigh started out collecting stamps. But after he inherited a large number of postcards from his mother, Ruth Nigh, he soon found an area of interest which combined his love of local history with his interest in postal history.
This fall, much of Nigh’s postcard collection will be available online for the public to view and enjoy. McPherson Public Library Director Steve Read announced that Nigh is allowing the library to scan the postcards in his collection for the library’s digital archive of historic photographs.
Most of the postcards in Nigh’s collection were produced around 1908, a time when many itinerant photographers were traveling the country by train, stopping in cities and towns, shooting photographs, and producing postcards for sale.
“There were a lot of postcards of McPherson produced, but most of them aren’t here,” Nigh commented. “People from McPherson bought them and then sent them to other parts of the country.”
Nigh, who also is president of the McPherson County Historical Society, continues to actively collect postcards. One of his more interesting purchases was from a collector in Kansas City. Upon looking at the back of the card of the Methodist Church, he saw that it had been written and sent by his mother.
Read said that the library is now in the process of scanning the postcards. “We’re very happy that Mr. Nigh is allowing us to make this part of McPherson history available to the public,” he said. “Some of the postcards in this collection are original photographs and are unique views of our community 100 years ago.”
The library hopes to roll out its online McPherson Photo Album this fall. It may be accessed via their web site. “It’s going to be a neat thing,” Nigh said.
For David Nigh, collecting historic postcards of McPherson comes naturally. A 30 year veteran of the U.S. Postal Service, Nigh started out collecting stamps. But after he inherited a large number of postcards from his mother, Ruth Nigh, he soon found an area of interest which combined his love of local history with his interest in postal history.
This fall, much of Nigh’s postcard collection will be available online for the public to view and enjoy. McPherson Public Library Director Steve Read announced that Nigh is allowing the library to scan the postcards in his collection for the library’s digital archive of historic photographs.
Most of the postcards in Nigh’s collection were produced around 1908, a time when many itinerant photographers were traveling the country by train, stopping in cities and towns, shooting photographs, and producing postcards for sale.
“There were a lot of postcards of McPherson produced, but most of them aren’t here,” Nigh commented. “People from McPherson bought them and then sent them to other parts of the country.”
Nigh, who also is president of the McPherson County Historical Society, continues to actively collect postcards. One of his more interesting purchases was from a collector in Kansas City. Upon looking at the back of the card of the Methodist Church, he saw that it had been written and sent by his mother.
Read said that the library is now in the process of scanning the postcards. “We’re very happy that Mr. Nigh is allowing us to make this part of McPherson history available to the public,” he said. “Some of the postcards in this collection are original photographs and are unique views of our community 100 years ago.”
The library hopes to roll out its online McPherson Photo Album this fall. It may be accessed via their web site. “It’s going to be a neat thing,” Nigh said.
