Local History @ Your Library

Local History @ Your Library Libraries are great sources for historical records including city directories, atlases and plat maps, vital records, old newspapers, census records, personal narratives, local histories and much more. You can search InfoSoup for local resources or visit your library and ask about their local history collections.

See Also » Local History Digital Collections for a growing list of local and regional history available online.

Searching InfoSoup

InfoSoup libraries' vast collection of local history materials, books, maps, newspapers, pamphlet files. For a good overview of materials available try browsing by county or city subject headings:

Try some of these other searches to explore local history resources:

@Your Library

These InfoSoup libraries have posted local history information on their web sites and/or descriptions of their local history holdings.

Census Records

U.S. federal census records for Wisconsin counties are available on microfilm at some InfoSoup libraries, including Algoma, Appleton, Oconto, Shawano, Iola, and Waupaca. Please contact the libraries for more details on specific holdings or check with your local library for more information about locating census records.

Full image of census records are also available online from HeritageQuest and, inside any InfoSoup library, from Ancestry Library Edition.

Local Indexes

Appleton Post-Crescent Index

A selective index of articles appearing in various Appleton newspapers from 1853 to the present. From the Appleton Public Library.

Kaukauna Newspaper Index

A selective index of articles appearing in various Kaukauna newspapers from 1880 to the present. From the Kaukauna Public Library.

APL Obituary Index

A partial but continually growing index to obituaries and death notices from Appleton newspapers. From the Appleton Public Library.

Veterans' Grave Registrations

Information on over 500 Fox River area deceased veterans from the War of 1812 to World War I. From the Appleton Public Library.

Outagamie County Plat book Index

A name index to four Outagamie County Plat books published between 1889 and 1942. From the Appleton Public Library.

Wisconsin Genealogy Index

Search for pre-1907 Vital Records (VR), including birth, death, and marriage records as well as for 150,000 Wisconsin Name Index (WNI) records, including biographical sketches, obituaries, and newspaper articles published before 2000. From the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Resource Libraries

Appleton Public Library

The resource library for public libraries in Outagamie and Waupaca counties features an extensive Wisconsin Collection, including city & county directories, cemetery records, local history books, census records, and more.

Brown County Library

The central library in Green Bay has a large collection of local history & genealogy material covering Brown and other northeast Wisconsin counties.

Oshkosh Public Library

An extensive genealogy and local history collection concentrating on the city of Oshkosh and Winnebago County.

Subscription Databases

MyHeritage Library Edition

The library version of the popular MyHeritage.com. Provides access to a vast collection of Census records, birth, marriage & death records, immigration and military records, directories, passenger lists, and more, including 3 billion exclusive family tree profiles from MyHeritage and Geni.

HeritageQuest

Includes census data, family records, local histories, military records and PERSI (the PERiodical Source Index). Library card number may be required from outside a library.

Wisconsin Newspaper Archive

Sporadic coverage of full text image of Wisconsin newspapers. Some local papers included. Made available by InfoSoup Libraries. Library card number and PIN required from outside a library.