The Rowles’ Studio Collection mostly contains reproduction images created by Rowles’ Studio in Hudson, NY, which first opened in 1851 as the Francis Forshew Photography Studio and was Hudson’s first photography studio. By 1948, Rowles’ Studio had a photographic library dating back more than 90 years, which traced the progress of the city. A large portion of the prints and negatives in this collection are reproduction prints from that library, (known as the Rowles’ Studio Collection), copies of which were donated to the History Room by the last owner of the business, Carmine Ciancetta, in the final years that the shop was in operation. The bulk of the images are digital proof prints of photos taken by Rowles’ Studio in the late-19th century to late-20th century. The proof prints were created for the History Room from original and copy negatives donated by Ciancetta. However, the origin of some of these proof prints is unknown. Rowles’ Studio Collection images are mostly commercial, documenting buildings, industry, transportation, people, and events, in the City of Hudson, NY, as well as the surrounding area, including several Columbia County courthouses, circa 1890-1910, Claverack College, Kaaterskill Mountain House, and more. Additional materials in this collection include glass plate negative portraits related to the Rowles family, spanning 1890s-1940s (mostly unidentified, creator unknown), and original negatives (1940s-1950s) related to the Rowles family (creator unknown); as well as cabinet cards and carte de visite portraits created by Forshew and Whitbeck (mid-19th to mid-20th century). The collection is divided into four series. Digital surrogates of many of the images in this collection are available on the History Room computer.