Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
- Jeffrey Bryant leads a project to preserve Idaho Falls history through photos.
- Over 160 boxes of negatives from local businesses were discovered in 2025.
- Photos are indexed and shared online, engaging locals in preserving their heritage.
IDAHO FALLS — Have you ever wondered what life looked like in Idaho Falls for your grandparents? Maybe even your great grandparents? A local group is trying to help you see it for yourself.
If you take a look at the local Facebook page, You grew up in Idaho Falls, Idaho, if you remember . . . . you will find hundreds of photos, most in black and white, showcasing what Idaho Falls was like, and how people lived all the way back from the 1920s.
Photos show nearly perfectly preserved images of old grocery stores where rowdy bars now lie, staff photos of law enforcement and parking lots full of cars you point out to your kids now as "antiques."
Jeffrey Bryant, a senior service missionary at the Idaho Falls Family Search Center, has taken on the large project of preserving many of the photos that were recently discovered, telling EastIdahoNews.com where they came from and why he's posting them all online.
The center is a nonprofit run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that aims to help locals find photos and information about their families.
According to Bryant, in October 2025, Kamron Cromwell, the facilities director of Alturas International Academy, discovered an extensive collection of photos left behind and found in the old O. E. Bell Jr. High School building, which Alturas took over in 2017.
"The Museum of Idaho directed them to us as a possible means to get these photos to the families who might find some value in them," Bryant says.
On Nov. 15, the center's directors came to Bryant with a significant task. Find the people who know more about these photos.
After deciding to take on the project, Bryant learned from Cromwell that there were 160 boxes of photographic negatives, kept initially by George M. Scott & Son's Book Store (1929-1965) and Perk's Photo (1965-2005), both former local businesses.
"My goal is to preserve the collection, build an index to share what is in the collection and provide copies to interested people. Many people who grew up in Idaho Falls have moved away, but are still interested in the community and local history," Bryant says. "(A few days ago) I scanned a file for someone back east who found their mother in the index. She rarely had her picture taken, so the images will be new to the person we are helping."
This was just the beginning. According to Bryant, Cromwell helped him contact the former owner of Perk's photos to figure out why the photos ended up at the old high school.
"I took three of the oldest boxes back to the FSC to see what they contained. I also talked to Kathy Crofts, former owner of Perk's Photos, who said the collection had gone to Bill Rigby, who has passed away," Bryant says. "He was involved in restoring O. E. Bell, which is likely why the collection is there."
After Crofts sent a copyright release for her former business's photo collection, the adventure began.
In late November, Bryant began indexing. Looking inside the first box, he says it was organized in an odd way.
"It was arranged semi-alphabetically. Almost all of the files are portraits. Often, several poses were done and only one was purchased, so families likely have not seen the other poses," Bryant says. "It is estimated that there are about 40,000 files in the boxes. Many of the negatives are starting to degrade."
For the first dozen boxes he went through, each file had a number and the name of the person in the photo, making it easier to track down existing relatives. Bryant says some had dates and addresses, and later boxes are filed in the order that they were taken.
Unfortunately, many of the commercial files are not included or have been moved to earlier boxes in alphabetical order.
"As a member of the Idaho State Historical Records Advisory Board, I began investigating whether the Idaho State Archives would want the collection," says Bryant. "The archives indicated they would be interested in the collection, but it would only have a finding aid for the entire collection unless we made an index."
Another issue? Safely storing the photos somewhere. Bryant says he began researching fire hazard potentials and other storage options, and even considered scanning and then disposing of the negatives.
"It was recommended by the archives that the negatives be kept," Bryant says. "It was clear that wherever the collection is stored, an index is needed to make it usable."
By Dec. 6, Bryant had finished indexing three boxes and was given 35 more, ranging up to 1963.
Finally, he was able to post some of the photos on FamilySearch. This free website allows users to search through billions of ancestor profiles, photographs and historical documents.
On Jan. 10, Bryant posted his first photo on the Life in Idaho Falls Facebook page of multiple members of the Keefer family, a prominent family from the early history of Idaho Falls and Eastern Idaho. The post garnered hundreds of reactions, with many curious about the FSC and if their own relatives were pictured.
Two days later, after the first post garnered so much attention, commenters suggested that Bryant post more of these photos to the group, You grew up in Idaho Falls, Idaho, if you remember . . . .
Since then, hundreds of locals have helped with the mission by recognizing their relatives, pointing out interesting historical details in the photos, and ensuring that Idaho Falls' history is never lost.
