Local History Digital Collection
Access local history digital collection of city directories, local history books & atlases, personal stories and photograph collections.

Oshkosh City Directories
No longer under lock and key, Oshkosh Public Library has digitized twenty-nine city directories spanning the years 1857 to 1922. Enjoy digging into your Oshkosh past through the contents of these directories.

Oshkosh Stories & Snapshots
Enjoy personal stories and reminiscences of life in Oshkosh by "ordinary people."

Oshkosh Local History Books
Oshkosh Public Library has digitized a number of local history books (mostly books of pictures), primarily from 1887 to 1919 .

Oshkosh Atlases & Histories - University of Wisconsin Digital Collection
A digital collection of materials published between 1856 and 1909 illustrating 19th Century Oshkosh and Winnebago County history. Made possible by Oshkosh Public Library's LSTA digitization grants for 2005 and 2007, 34 titles thus far covering 19th Century Oshkosh and Winnebago County history have been added to the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections web site.

City of Oshkosh Historic Resources Survey Final Report
Intensive Historic Survey Update to 1980 Intensive Survey (large .pdf document; wait to load). Contains surveys for approximately 700 City of Oshkosh properties. This document is available online only.

Historic Oshkosh Businesses
Discover the beginnings of historic Oshkosh businesses, such as Oshkosh Trunk and others. View photographs and articles from the Oshkosh Businesses Digital Collection.

Oshkosh Businesses Digital Collections.
Photographs, newspaper articles and postcards of businesses that once flourished in Oshkosh. Through this online digital collection, memories of Oshkosh come alive.

Oshkosh Firsts & Facts
Are you curious about who was the first couple married in Oshkosh, which Oshkosh street was originally called Makake, or who was the first school teacher? Find the answers to your local history questions and many interesting Oshkosh facts.

The News from Oshkosh
Catch a glimpse of 1853 happenings as reported in the weekly Oshkosh Democrat and Oshkosh Courier.

Oshkosh Decades
Top Stories of the Decades 1830s - present.

Timeline of Historic Oshkosh Events: 1634 - 2000

Oshkosh Public Library's Local History Collection

The Oshkosh Public Library defines its Local History territory as the City of Oshkosh and Winnebago County, except for the Cities of Neenah and Menasha, which are each served by their own library.

It is easiest to search the library catalog under:

• Oshkosh, Wis--
• Winnebago County, Wis--
• You MUST use the "Wis" abbreviation before adding a subheading. There are over 100 subdivisions under Winnebago County.

It is important to note that our Local History Collection is a reference collection that must be used in the library. However, there are also copies of many of the books in our circulating collection which can be checked out for a 28-day period.

Local and Regional Histories and Biographies
The following sources are available for information regarding local history.

• HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN. Western Historical Co., 1881.
• HISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY AND THE FOX RIVER VALLEY, 1541-1877. Thwaites, Reuben G. 1877 (reprint, 1984)
• HISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY. Harney, Richard J., Allen & Hicks, 1880.
• INDEX: HISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY, WISCONSIN. Langkau, David A. An every name index to History of Winnebago County, Wisconsin (1880) by Richard J. Harney.
• ILLUSTRATED ATLAS OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY.
• Randall, George A., Brant & Fuller, 1889.
• INDEX TO RANDALL'S ILLUSTRATED ATLAS OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY, 1889. Langkau, David A.
• HISTORY, WINNEBAGO COUNTY, WISCONSIN, Vol. I. Lawson, Publius V., Cooper & Co., 1908.
• HISTORY, WINNEBAGO COUNTY, WISCONSIN, Vol. II. Lawson, Publius V., Cooper & Co., 1908.
• COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF THE FOX RIVER VALLEY. Beers & Co., 1895.
• HISTORY OF THE FOX RIVER VALLEY, LAKE WINNEBAGO AND THE GREEN BAY REGION. Titus, William A., Clarke Pub. Co., 1930. (3 volumes).
• OSHKOSH, 100 YEARS A CITY. 1953.
• PRAIRIE, PINES AND PEOPLE: WINNEBAGO COUNTY IN A NEW PERSPECTIVE. Metz, James, ed. 1976
• LAND RICH ENOUGH: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF OSHKOSH AND WINNEBAGO COUNTY. Goc, Michael. Windsor Pubs. 1980.
• CIVIL WAR VETERANS OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY. Langkau, David A., Heritage Books, 1993-6. (Vol. 1: A-H; Vol. 2: I-T; Vol. 3 forthcoming.)

Plat Maps

• ATLAS OF THE CITY OF OSHKOSH, WIS. Leach, Harvey W. 1895.
• MAP OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY. Randall, George A. 1862. ILLUSTRATED ATLAS OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY. Randall, George A. 1889
  • MAP OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY. Hixson, W. W. 1897
  • PLAT BOOK OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY. Gorman & Soudea. 1909.

The Local History Collection also includes:

• college and high school yearbooks
• business histories -- some anniversary booklets, often packet of clippings
• church histories
• organizations
• books by local authors
• biographies of local individuals

Newspaper Indexing (earliest papers, 1849; sometimes 5 at one time. Indexing incomplete)

• There are two main sections to the indexing:
  • Obituaries are nearest the outside wall. Separate drawers for 1969-present, 1930s-50s, and 1874-1897 (German newspaper)
  • General indexing
    • 1849-1899, 1903, 1922-1946 in section labeled "old newspaper index"
    • 1967-70 labeled The Paper index
    • 1970-1992 labeled Oshkosh Daily Northwestern index
    • Newspaper Archive www.newspaperarchive.com is a subscription service which includes many years of coverage of the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern.
  • Try Omro Journal 1874-1916 for news from Poygan and Rushford as well as Omro.
  • We do not have the Omro Herald 1894 to present; the Wisconsin Historical Society does.
  • We do not have newspapers from Neenah or Menasha; please contact those libraries directly.
  • City or County Directories (earliest directory 1857; not published every year)
    • List head of household and adult children working outside home.
    • Women were not listed unless widowed head of household until 1910 then listed with husband.
    • Directories which cover all of Winnebago County are 1893-1895-1900-1905-1910-1914. All have Oshkosh in front, then Neenah, Menasha, Omro, Winneconne then county.
    • Remember street names and numbers have changed so looking for an old house is not straightforward. The major change in numbers was 1957-58, but there were many smaller shifts in the pre-World War I period. Theses minor changes are not clearly documented.
    • Directories 1857 through 1922 have been digitized.

Hint on Place Names -- What is a civil town?

In a few states patterned on New York state, the rural areas of a county are divided into civil towns. It is phrased as "town of _______." Like townships in other states, towns had one-room schools, road and fence inspectors, justices of the peace, etc. In Wisconsin, they still operate or contract for fire protection and garbage services. The boundaries of a civil town may or may not correspond to a federal land record township; in Winnebago County only one of the 16 towns is a regulation 6 miles square.

Civil towns do not show on a Wisconsin state highway map. Cities and villages with the same name as a civil town may exist within it. (examples: Oshkosh, Omro, Winneconne) There may also be unincorporated communities in a civil town. These have no separate government. Some are the remnants of old villages including discontinued post offices. Pickett in Town of Utica is one such community; Larsen is another.

Note that there can be more than one civil town in Wisconsin with the same name. In addition to the Town of Utica in Winnebago County, there is one in Crawford County also. There are Towns of Marshfield in both Fond du Lac and Wood Counties.

The 16 civil towns in Winnebago County are Algoma, Black Wolf, Clayton, Menasha, Neenah, Nekimi, Nepeuskun, Poygan, Oshkosh, Omro (formerly Bloomingdale), Rushford, Utica, Vinland, Winchester, Winneconne and Wolf River.

The Oshkosh Public Museum Virtual Exhibit
Take a virtual tour of six Oshkosh Public Museum historical exhibits.

Oshkosh in Motion
Hometown movie that "presents a rare and unique glimpse of Oshkosh and its residents" with sound effects and period music written by Oshkosh composers of the early twentieth century. From the UW-Oshkosh Archives & Area Research Center and the Oshkosh Public Museum. Need QuickTime 5 to view.

Oshkosh High School Class of 1953-54 Audio Yearbook
"You Were There", a filmstrip/audio yearbook, comes alive on the web. The UW-Oshkosh Archives & Area Research Center has digitized the recording and placed it on the library Web site for all to hear, along with yearbook and Oshkosh Northwestern photos. QuickTime 6.5 is needed to view.

Baby Doe
Elizabeth McCourt Tabor better known as Baby Doe Tabor was born in Oshkosh October 7th, 1854. Find out more about her life, the opera "The Ballad of Baby Doe", and her family through articles, speeches and interviews.

To Top