Local Histories - Ontario
Local histories can be an excellent resource for filling in many different types of family history details. Local histories can have detailed information about the people who lived there, including photos and biographies.
Online
The University of Calgary’s digital collections include a number of local history books for Ontario, and can be searched here: Note that the books are not in place- name order, so you will need to scroll through the titles. A sort filter is available (top right) but only provides title sorting. Once you find a title of interest, select it and it will load for online reading. If you need a larger window, click on the little page icon (top right of the viewing pane) for a full screen view.
Google Books: Search by place name for access to digital books
The library has local histories for several communities in Ontario. To see if the library has a history of a particular town or area, look in the library catalogue using “Subject browse” and terms: Ontario – History. A few examples:
Gateman, Laura M. (ed.). The History of the Township of Brant 1854-1979. The Brant Township Historical Society, Elmwood, Ontario 1979. Library call number: GEN 971.321 HIS 1979.
Lepard, Ivy. A Century Plus in Uhthoff 1879 to 1990. 1991. Library call number 971.317 LEP