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Old photos of Nairobi

43 photographs of Nairobi, from 1913 to 2025 — each pinned to the exact place it was taken.

Have an old photo of Nairobi? A family album, a postcard, a print from the attic. Pin it to the map and it becomes part of the record.
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What the photos show

The 43 photographs of Nairobi on PlaceWas span 7 decades, from 1913 to 2025. 24 of them were taken before 1980; the other 19 are recent views of the same streets and landmarks.3 spots were photographed more than once, so you can compare the same street, square or building across the years.43 of the photos carry a written caption explaining what is in the frame. Every picture is pinned to the place it was taken, so the map below shows where the photographers stood.

Pick a decade to filter the photos below and the map above. Open full map ↗

Places in Nairobi through time

Spots photographed more than once — compare the same place across the years.

Haile Selassie Avenue (Nairobi), Nairobi — photos through time
Haile Selassie Avenue (Nairobi) 26 photos · 1913–2025
Kipande House, Nairobi — photos through time
Kipande House 4 photos · 2025
Nairobi Railway Museum locomotives, Nairobi — photos through time
Nairobi Railway Museum locomotives 2 photos · 2024

Stories from Nairobi

What contributors wrote about these photographs.

Jules Leclercq- Aux sources du rue de Nairobi & hôtel Norfolk, Nairobi, 1913
Jules Leclercq- Aux sources du rue de Nairobi & hôtel Norfolk 1913 Published in Jules Leclercq's 1913 travel account "Aux sources du Nil," this view captures a street in Nairobi alongside the Hotel Norfolk, one of the city's earliest hotels catering to travelers heading into British…
Kenya Colony. Nairobi. MacMillan Library and the Indian mosque LOC, Nairobi, 1936
Kenya Colony. Nairobi. MacMillan Library and the Indian mosque LOC 1936 The MacMillan Memorial Library, which opened in Nairobi in 1931 and was endowed by the American-born settler Sir Northrup MacMillan, stood near an Indian mosque, a pairing that reflected the city's mix of European and…
Kenya Colony. Nairobi. Government House LOC, Nairobi, 1936
Kenya Colony. Nairobi. Government House LOC 1936 Government House in Nairobi served as the official residence of the governor of Kenya Colony, the seat from which the British colonial administration governed the territory during the 1930s, when Nairobi had grown into…
Kenya Colony. Nairobi. Offices of the Uganda-Kenya Railways LOC, Nairobi, 1936
Kenya Colony. Nairobi. Offices of the Uganda-Kenya Railways LOC 1936 These offices in Nairobi housed the administration of the Uganda-Kenya Railways, the rail authority descended from the Uganda Railway whose completion in the early 1900s had first established Nairobi as a depot town and…
Kenya Colony. Nairobi. Sixth Avenue near the standard bank LOC, Nairobi, 1936
Kenya Colony. Nairobi. Sixth Avenue near the standard bank LOC 1936 This view along Sixth Avenue near a branch of the Standard Bank captures part of Nairobi's commercial district, which grew steadily during the 1930s as Kenya Colony's capital and a center of banking and trade in British…
Kenya Colony. Nairobi. The Muthaiga Club, exterior LOC, Nairobi, 1936
Kenya Colony. Nairobi. The Muthaiga Club, exterior LOC 1936 The Muthaiga Club, founded in 1913 as an exclusive social club for Nairobi's European settler community, is shown here at its clubhouse outside the city center, a gathering place long associated with colonial Kenya's…
COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De Jamia Moskee in het centrum van Nairobi TMnr, Nairobi, 1973
COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De Jamia Moskee in het centrum van Nairobi TMnr 1973 Jamia Mosque stands in central Nairobi, serving as the city's principal mosque for its Muslim community since the early twentieth century. This 1973 image comes from the Tropenmuseum collection, part of a large Dutch…
Nairobi Railway Museum locomotives, Nairobi, 2024
Nairobi Railway Museum locomotives 2024 Steam locomotives on outdoor display at the Nairobi Railway Museum, Kenya, photographed in 2024. The museum preserves rolling stock from the Uganda Railway, whose construction beginning in 1896 led to the founding of…
1910s · 1 photo
1920s · 5 photos
1930s · 14 photos
1960s · 3 photos
1970s · 1 photo
2010s · 4 photos
2020s · 15 photos · showing 12, all 15 on the map ↗