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Local History & Information

Library and Internet resources for discovering local history and information in the Central Valley of California

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Iris Carroll
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Need help now? We have Research Drop-In Hours Monday - Saturday during Spring 2023: Go to the Ask a Librarian page to get immediate help.
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Researching Local History

Are you ready to take the plunge into researching local history? You've come to the right place.

Local history research is different from researching other topics because much of the information you'll need isn't widely published in the traditional sources you're accustomed to using.

For your research, you'll want to use:

  • Local History Sources in the Library
  • Genealogical & Historical Societies
  • Newspapers
  • Online Archives

Be Prepared to Visit Libraries & Historical Societies:

To gain access to many of these useful resources, you will need to actually go to local libraries and historical societies, because most of this old, local information is not available online.


How to Navigate this Guide:

Follow the navigation menu on the left (or on top depending on the size of your device) to explore all of these different collections to help you discover the history of our local area.