5Titles
Explore publications and collections from the past.
Community History Archive Partner
Blackford County Historical Society
Hartford City, Indiana
Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Hartford City.
1901 to 1913Dates represented
See individual titles for available dates.
36,812Archive pages
Historical pages reported for this collection.
Explore local history
Discover the people, places, and stories of Hartford City, Indiana.
Explore the past of Hartford City, Indiana through newspapers in the Blackford County Historical Society's digital archive. Its five titles include material from 1901 to 1913.
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Selected titles
Explore titles such as “Blackford County Gazette” and “Hartford City Daily Gazette”, shared by Blackford County Historical Society.
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Free and open access
No subscription or payment required.
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A closer look
A familiar name or event takes on another dimension in the newspaper coverage of its time, alongside the stories that mattered to the readers of that issue.
Reporting from the time can reveal how people described the events, work and concerns of their day, placing a local story within the history unfolding around it. Whether you are tracing a family connection, exploring a local event or sharing history with a class, there is more to discover than names and dates alone. Explore the archive online for free, without a subscription.
Explore the collection
Titles in this collection
Browse five titles and 36,812 digitized pages, with material from 1901 to 1913. This collection is shared through Blackford County Historical Society's partnership with Advantage Archives. Some years or items may be missing between the dates shown.
Bring a person, place or date you recognize, and browse the titles below for a first clue in the story you want to follow.
Blackford County Gazette
3,198 pages from 1901 to 1905
Daily Gazette
3,736 pages from 1901 to 1903
Hartford City Daily Gazette
4,928 pages from 1903 to 1905
The Daily Times Gazette
18,808 pages from 1905 to 1913
Weekly Times Gazette
6,142 pages from 1905 to 1913
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About the Archive
About The Blackford County Historical Society’s History Archives
The history archive of the Blackford County Historical Society provides free access to local historical and genealogical resources that support research into Blackford County’s past. The archive serves as an educational resource and engagement tool, offering practical online access to local primary source documents that reflect people, places, and events as told by the individuals that witnessed them. Through a partnership with Advantage Archives , the Society supports a shared responsibility to make collective history more accessible and discoverable at no cost to the public. The archive spans multiple formats and time periods, documenting history as it happened through newspapers, directories, photographs, and genealogical materials that provide a snapshot of time and perspective rooted in the community.
Local History
Local History Resources
The Bound Newspaper Collection (Late 1800s–1900s) The Church Records Collection (19th–20th century) The Family Genealogy Files (19th–20th century) The City and Business Directories (Early–mid 20th century) The High School Yearbooks (20th century) The Local Photograph Collection (Late 19th–20th century) These resources support research, genealogy, and historical inquiry by preserving firsthand accounts and original documents that bring the past to the present through accessible local records.
About the Society
About The Blackford County Historical Society
The Blackford County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and sharing the county’s cultural assets through community-based partnerships, research access, and public outreach. The Society operates a museum and the Cecil Beeson Genealogy Library, where visitors can explore publications, photographs, and records that document local life and community development. Through exhibits, programming, and research support, the organization connects residents and visitors with primary sources that support learning, discovery, and engagement with Blackford County’s shared history.
Institution History
The History Of The Blackford County Historical Society
Established in the early 1970s, the Blackford County Historical Society was formed to safeguard historical records and artifacts connected to the county’s people and institutions. In 1976, the Society acquired its current home at 321 North High Street in Hartford City, creating a permanent location for preserving and sharing historical materials. Over time, the Society expanded its collections to include newspapers, genealogical files, photographs, and community documents that reflect history recorded in original sources. Its work reflects an ongoing commitment to accessibility, digitization, and stewardship of local history.
About the Community
About The City of Hartford City, Indiana
Hartford City is the county seat of Blackford County and has served as a center of civic life since the county’s establishment in 1839. Originally known as Hartford, the community developed through agriculture and later experienced significant growth during Indiana’s late 19th-century natural gas boom. Historic buildings and neighborhoods provide a visible connection to the city’s past, offering context for understanding the people and events documented in local primary source materials. Hartford City continues to serve as a portal to the community’s past through its preserved records and historic landmarks.
Local History
Did You Know?
Hartford City was once known as Hart’s Ford, a name tied to early settlement patterns in the region and reflective of frontier life in Indiana. The building that now houses the Blackford County Historical Society has itself become part of local history, serving for decades as a place where residents can explore, discover, and connect with firsthand accounts and records that capture history as it happened.
More ways to explore and share local history
Research Guidance
Follow a report into its setting
A family name, a familiar street or a story passed down through generations can lead to a closer look at the history of Hartford City. The digital archive shared by the Blackford County Historical Society offers a place to begin. When using historical newspapers, try alternate spellings and nearby dates, then read the surrounding page to place a local story in its time. Compare later reporting or another available title to explore different perspectives rather than treating one account as the whole story. Read the headline and neighboring articles as well as the matching lines. The surrounding page can show whether a report is local news, an editorial, or another kind of account; compare its details with later coverage where available.
Take a place or institution mentioned in a report as a new search lead. Check the issue date and read nearby articles to see how the setting is described. Preserve historical names and boundaries as written, and compare another dated reference before connecting the place to a present-day location.
Record which title, date, page, or item supports a useful lead. Mark unanswered questions before connecting it to a family or community story. A similar name can point you toward another source, but it is not proof of identity.
Community Partnership
Keeping local history a community resource
This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Blackford County Historical Society, its community, and Advantage Archives. Together, these partnerships preserve local sources and give people a way to explore, learn from, and share the history around them.
Advantage Archives covers ongoing archive hosting, storage, development, and maintenance. The institution and its community do not pay a subscription, seat license, annual support contract, or other recurring archive-service charge. Local history remains a community resource, not a subscription to maintain.
Would you like to see more of your community's history preserved and accessible? Start a conversation with your library, newspaper publisher, historical or genealogical society, museum, or school about the materials they would like to share and a possible partnership with Advantage Archives.
Learn about partnerships
Stories, research tips, and archive news
Read All About It connects archive research with the people and institutions preserving local history. Explore partner and community stories, project updates, research ideas, and perspectives on digitization, education, and working with primary sources. Use the articles as a starting point for your next question or a new way to share a discovery.
May 7, 2025
Why Microfilm is still important in 2023
Preserving documents on microfilm has been a popular method of storage for many years, and it still holds many benefits today. Here…
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May 7, 2025
Don’t Search For An Obituary By Only Searching For An “Obituary”
In the quest to trace our roots and understand our heritage, obituaries often serve as a crucial starting point. Obituaries are undoubtedly…
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April 9, 2025
Unveiling the Hidden Mysteries: Exploring Cold Cases and Unconventional Clues
Even the most esteemed police forces in the county encounter perplexing cold case files. These unsolved mysteries often leave investigators and genealogists…
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April 1, 2025
This Week in History: March 31st through April 6th
Discover History in The Community History Archives. This week in history, there is absolutely nothing to talk about… April Fools! April…
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March 24, 2025
This Week in History: March 24th through March 30th
Discover History in The Community History Archives. It has officially been a year since I started writing This Week in History,…
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March 18, 2025
It’s Your Community’s History, So Why Rent Something You Own?
We believe that history belongs to the communities where it was made - not locked behind paywalls or inaccessible due to budget restrictions. Subscription-based services and large content aggregators are generally more concerned with "content" and less concerned with the history that content contains. Their models typically involve a reoccurring charge for a plan that renews annually or licensing agreements with the library based on population served or circulation numbers. You are essentially Renting Access To YOUR History.
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