History is alive and constant in Bay County, in the stately mansions along Center Avenue, in the weathered-but-working Centennial Farms dotting rural roads, to parks and streets and commercial buildings carrying the names of pioneers, patriots and business titans.

But these monuments to great visions and sacrifice can only whisper suggestions of our storied past. Photographs bring them to life. That is the magic of "Through the Lens," a stunning collection of hundreds of images form the earliest days of Bay County in the mid-1800s through the early days of 20th century.