Archive digitisation project hits 20 million

Wellington City Archives has just cracked the 20 million mark of online and publicly accessible pages of archives and images dating from the 1840s to the present day. To celebrate, we're heading down memory lane.

Black and white photo of people sunbathing on Oriental Bay beach. — Day at the Beach, Oriental Parade, circa 1940. Wellington City Council, 00155-152

The online collection is the culmination of over two decades of work digitally scanning archives, providing a rich resource for anyone researching their family heritage or interested in the city’s social, political and urban history.

These digitised images and documents can be easily searched on Council's Archives Online website.

Image of Old Library on the corner of Mercer Street and Wakefield St — Old Library on the corner of Mercer Street and Wakefield St est. 1940s. Wellington City Council Archives, 00138-12269

As well as the archives being moved online, the physical City Archives are preparing for the move to their new home in Te Matapihi, when it opens in early 2026.

Preparations for moving 180 years’ worth of Wellington City Council history to a new building include auditing approximately 8.5 kilometres of archives spread over 38,000 various types of containers full of papers, photos, plans and objects.

The team is brainstorming ways to transport the precious archives in a low-waste way, in line with Council's Zero Waste Strategy. Contact the team if you have packaging material that you'd be happy to donate to the project.

In celebration of digitising 20 million archives, take a look at some pictures of Wellington through the years.