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THEBACHA/FORT SMITH - Since launching a search for photos of Fort Smith throughout the years Kevin Brunt has managed to collect close to 15,000 pictures.

Kevin Brunt is the curator of Fort Smith's Northern Lights Museum. He is looking for photos, like those he is holding, of the town in order to create a database illustrating the history of the town. - Cara Loverock/ NNSL photo

Brunt, curator of the Northern Lights Museum in Fort Smith, began the photo project about four years ago.

"I noticed we didn't have as many photographs as we actually should," said Brunt, who started working for the museum in 2003.

Brunt scans the original photo and adds it to a growing database and provides a digital copy for the owner, who also receives their original back.

"Each image is given a reference number so we can find it," said Brunt as he sifted through the numerous files on his computer.

The database contains a copy of each picture in jpeg and tiff formats as well as a word document including information like the photographer, date and location.

He said most of the photos are from the 1970s through the '90s, with fewer from the 1950s and earlier. The project's successes include records collected of the landslide that occurred in the 1960s.

Brunt said there were few photos that had been taken and used for publication, but the museum has had individuals come forward with their own pictures. One man brought in photos of the landslide taken from a plane, giving an aerial view.

"It provides a much richer record," he said.

The photo collection has been a side project.

Brunt is hoping to put together an online exhibit so people can view Fort Smith at different points in time.

"We're trying to build a collection we can use in the future," he said.

The museum is getting more and more photos and anyone with old pictures of the town is asked to contact the Northern Lights Museum.