Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Tuesday's Tip: Community Newspapers

Are you aware of the value of community newspapers in your genealogical research, typically for free? 

By their very nature, these newspapers focus on the current people, organizations, businesses and events in their circulation area.  However, amongst these articles are stories about the history of the area.  My community newspaper The Pocket News has an ongoing history series about Portuguese immigrant families who settled in the southwest region of Sacramento, California in the Sacramento River Delta.

These articles include names.  A recent article was entitled "Pocket man established the historic Eagle Winery".  The story highlighted Manuel Silva Nevis and his wine manufacturing businesses, the first one of which starting in 1881.  Other stories covered the Portuguese church, housing construction and ship building for the vibrant immigrant fishing industry. Historic photographs help tell the story.

This is a treasure trove of information if the articles are about your ancestors!  Citations are not included with each article but could probably be easily obtained by contacting the author. 

The Pocket News recently had an article about its 20th anniversary celebration.  Think about the stories in their archives! And many community newspapers have a companion website that has a search feature. So when you're searching in the hometown of your ancestor, remember to look for the current community newspapers.

Tuesday's Tip is just one of the blogging themes suggested on Geneabloggers.  Get you surname and locale noticed by thousands of blog readers - submit your story to rootcellarsgs@gtmail.com.

posted by Denise Hibsch Richmond

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