Digital Collections @ Your Library

Check out the ever growing collection of local history resources available online 24/7. These full-text and image resources include maps, postcards, city directories, local histories, newspaper articles, and more. For additional information about local history resources at your library, visit our Local History page.

Digital Collections

Local


InfoSoup Memory Project

An ongoing project to provide access to the wealth of historical resources available in OWLSnet member libraries.

Appleton Public Library Local History

95 volumes, including plat maps, city directories, local histories, building surveys and more.

Brown, Door, Kewaunee, Oconto and Shawano Counties: Historical Atlases, Directories, Plat Maps & High School Yearbooks

Plat books and atlases for four northeastern Wisconsin counties.

Kaukauna Public Library

A collection of online resources on the history of Kaukauna.

Marinette County Local History

Plat books and Yearbooks from the Marinette County Library System

Shawano City-County Library Collection
Local newspaper articles and pictures about the 1975 Novitiate Takeover by the Menominee Warrior Society, a 34 day siege that drew national attention.

State

Wisconsin Historical Society

The Wisconsin Historical Society maintains an ever-growing collection of online resources. Their research portal lists the numerous databases, collections and online tools.

Wisconsin Heritage Online

An expanding digital collection, featuring documentary sources and material culture from Wisconsin libraries, archives, and museums.

Found in Wisconsin

Search for digitized books, photographs, videos, and other resources available on the websites of libraries, historical societies, and museums statewide. 

U.W. Digital Collections

Providing "leadership in the creation of quality digital resources from libraries and archives." For local history materials see the State of Wisconsin Collection.

National

American Memory

American Memory provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience.

Newspaper Archive

Very sporadic coverage of full text image of newspapers world-wide. Some local papers included, but coverage is limited. Made available via BadgerLink. Library card required from outside a library.

 

Images & PostcardsImages & Postcards

Fox Valley Memory Photos

Over 1400 images from collections at the Appleton Public Library and the Outagamie County Historical Society.

InfoSoup Memory Project

Postcards from Kaukauna, Hortonville, and Oconto Falls public libraries.

Wisconsin Historical Images

Search or browse a fraction of the 3 million images in the Archives of the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Local History Texts

These local history texts are available online and are fully searchable.

History of Outagamie County (1911?)

Often referred to as Ryan's History, this is a major resource for Outagamie County history.

Pioneers of Outagamie County (1895)

Biographical sketches and photos of many residents of settlements in Outagamie County in 1895.

Land of the Fox, Saga of Outagamie County (1949)

Published in conjunction with the Outagamie County Centennial observance.

Commemorative Biographical Record of the Fox River Valley Counties of Brown, Outagamie and Winnebago (1895)

Biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families.

Kaukauna, Wisconsin. "Lion of the Fox" | Part 2 (1891)

An early history of Kaukauna.

Pioneering the Upper Midwest: Books from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, ca. 1820-1910

Over 130 books of regional history from the Library of Congress.

HeritageQuest Books

HeritageQuest has more than 20,000 family history and local history books. You can search by place, person, or keyword. Here is a sample of some texts relating to northeast Wisconsin.

History of Northern Wisconsin (1881)

History of Door County, Wisconsin : the County Beautiful (1917)

History of Clintonville, Wisconsin : from Pioneer Days to the Present Time (1917)

Old Peninsula Days : Tales and Sketches of the Door Peninsula (1934)

Plat MapsPlat Maps & Atlases

Listing by county of land ownership maps from InfoSoup libraries that are available online via the U.W. Digital archives.

Brown County
Door County
Kewaunee County
Marinette County
Outagamie County
Shawano County

Atlases and plat books are available online from other counties in Wisconsin. You can browse Infosoup or search the U.W. Digital Collections.

Plat maps both old and new are also available in InfoSoup libraries. Search Real property - Wisconsin - and browse by county or do a keyword search for County/City name and Maps.

High School Yearbooks

A selection of High School Yearbooks from Algoma, Green Bay, Kewanee, Oconto, Oconto Falls, and Sturgeon Bay. Dates range from 1910 to 1926. Titles include:

Marinette County High School Yearbooks. Titles includes: