F. Jay Haynes [1853-1921] was certainly Fargo's most famous photographer. He opened his first studio in Moorhead, Minnesota in 1876 and in 1879, he opened a larger studio in Fargo (shown right) on Front Street. Note the many windows in the rear of the building. Photographers in this era did not use articiall light; they relied on natural light and needed many windows (and a sunny day) for good exposures. A Haynes studio portrait can be seen here.

Haynes was the official photographer of the Northern Pacific Railroad and traveled throughout the northwest taking promotional photographs for the railroad. Many of the early stereoviews of Fargo and the Bonanza farms on this site were taken by Haynes. Haynes even had his own railroad car, called Haynes Studio from 1885-1905. He is remembered in the history of photography primarily for his many early photographs of Yellowstone National Park. He obtained a license to operate a photographic concession in the Park at Mammoth Hot Springs. Haynes opened The Log Cabin Studio which served Yellowstone Park for many years selling photos to visiting tourists.

He moved his studio to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1889 (where he had a studio at the corner of Selby Avenue and Virginia) and traveled throughout the West and Alaska earning the reputation as one of the West's finest early photographers.