ON OLD NASSAU: Aside from the vintage vehicles, Nassau Street circa 1915 doesn’t look all that different from today. This and 3,999 other images are part of the Historical Society of Princeton’s collection of photographs, many of which can be viewed on the organization’s website. About 40 of them are part of the “Picturing Princeton” exhibit that is moving from Updike Farm to Bainbridge House next month.

Imagine Jefferson Road with only a few houses, far apart from each other, and no trees. Picture the Dinky station, it’s tracks only steps away from Princeton University’s Blair Hall; or Kopp’s store, advertising not only bicycles, but “Little & Golze, Leading Tailors to College Men, Here To-Day.”

These are only a few of the images that make up “Picturing Princeton,” a collection of photographs that transport viewers back to an earlier era. The Historical Society of Princeton (HSP) currently has 4,000 of them, about 40 of which are currently on view at its restored Updike Farmstead on Quaker Road. This cache will be moved to a permanent exhibit space at the HSP’s Bainbridge House on Nassau Street, replacing what is currently the gift shop, and will open in mid-February.

“We’ve been trying to emphasize our photo collection in different ways from what we did in the past,” says Eileen Morales, HSP’s Curator of Collections. “Local people know about our open hours on Tuesdays, when they can visit from 1 to 4 p.m., or by appointment. But we also have a database with 4,000 images, which we’re trying to promote. We want to make sure everyone in town knows we’re a good source for history.”

Some of the Historical Society’s photos are part of its Rose Collection, but most are from individual donors. The HSP has been collecting old photographs since 1938. “Many of these come from people in the community,” says Ms. Morales. “Some are long-time residents. Others are their children or grandchildren who find the pictures when they are going through things, don’t know what to do with them, and give them to us.”

With consolidation looming, this seemed like an appropriate time to focus on the photos. “There are so many changes on the governmental side coming in,” Ms. Morales says. “We’re re-emphasizing the history of the community as a whole.”

While the exhibit will remain on view at Bainbridge House indefinitely, Ms. Morales plans to rotate the photographs on occasion. Currently, the images range from some that are immediately recognizable as Princeton to others that could be from any semi-rural location at the turn of the century or earlier.

A group of young students, circa 1900, is labeled as possibly being from the Princeton Model School on Nassau Street. Christine “Vanity Parlors” on Spring Street dates from the 1930s. There is William Howard Taft, arriving at Princeton Depot, Warren Harding dedicating the Battle Monument in 1922, and Woodrow Wilson, in another shot at the train depot, in 1916.

Interiors include a soda fountain in 1913, a saloon with sawdust on the floor and spittoons by the bar, advertising “98% alcohol, 2% foam.” Members of the congregation of Mt. Pisgah Church pose in 1895. There are a few messy-looking snow scenes, a very muddy corner of Nassau Street in 1881, and a view down Vandeventer Street to the Victorian house on Wiggins Street which is still standing, circa 1900-1910. Booker T. Washington is pictured in Princeton in 1914. Company L marches down Nassau Street in a photo dated 1917-18. A treetops view from the University’s Holder Hall shows bucolic farmland beyond the town.

“It was really hard to choose,” Ms. Morales says of putting together the exhibit. “I wanted to pick a range of things. There are things people would recognize right off the bat, like Nassau Street and some local businesses. And then there are sort of the greatest hits, like Einstein’s home and Booker T. Washington coming to Princeton.”

While the webiste (www.princetonhistory.org) offers the biggest variety of images, those who prefer to view the collection in person can visit the HSP Tuesdays from 1-4 p.m. or by appointment. “People can come and look through the photos, and they can also see things that are not available online yet,” says Ms. Morales. “This is an ongoing project.”

The HSP can reproduce pictures to be used as gifts, for individual use, or for businesses to hang on their walls. “The show is just the tip of the iceberg,” says Ms. Morales. “We have a huge range and we welcome anyone to come and take a look.”