8Titles
Explore publications and collections from the past.
Community History Archive Partner
Concordia Parish Library
Ferriday, Louisiana
Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Ferriday.
1810 to 2025Dates represented
See individual titles for available dates.
246,362Archive pages
Historical pages reported for this collection.
Explore local history
Discover the people, places, and stories of Ferriday, Louisiana.
Discover another side of Ferriday, Louisiana through newspapers preserved in the Concordia Parish Library's digital archive. Its eight titles include material from 1810 to 2025.
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Selected titles
A selection from Concordia Parish Library: “Census” and “The Natchez Democrat”.
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Free and open access
No subscription or payment required.
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A closer look
An earlier generation comes into view through the stories its newspapers chose to report, placing familiar names and events within the concerns of their time.
The reporting of earlier years offers a way to explore how events were understood as they happened and how local experiences became part of the historical record. A family story, a classroom project or curiosity about a familiar place can lead to a closer look at the community and the lives of earlier generations. Explore the archive online for free, without a subscription.
Explore the collection
Titles in this collection
Browse eight titles and 246,362 digitized pages, with material from 1810 to 2025. Through a partnership with Advantage Archives, Concordia Parish Library shares these sources from the past. Some years or items may be missing between the dates shown.
A family story or a question about a familiar place can lead somewhere unexpected. Browse the titles below and see which detail draws you in.
Census
20,432 pages from 1810 to 1930
Concordia Sentinel
Page count not currently available dates not yet available
Concordia Sentinel
181,866 pages from 1967 to 2025
Concordia Sentinel
Page count not currently available dates not yet available
Freedmans Bureau Records
3,680 pages in 1905
The Concordia Intelligencer
3,620 pages from 1841 to 1855
The Concordia Sentinel
33,692 pages from 1919 to 2022
The Natchez Democrat
3,072 pages in 2011
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About the Library
About The Concordia Parish Library
The Concordia Parish Library is the second oldest parish library in Louisiana and the first to be tax-supported. Established in 1928, the library provides a wide range of resources and services to the citizens of Concordia Parish. The library has grown from a community effort into a valuable cultural institution, offering everything from books and educational programs to free access to historical archives and other resources.
Library History
The History Of The Concordia Parish Library
The Concordia Parish Library’s roots date back to 1928, when a group of public-spirited citizens, with the support of the Louisiana Library Commission and local organizations, established the Concordia Parish Demonstration Library. In 1929, the citizens of the parish voted to support the library through a tax, ensuring its continued operation. The library was originally housed in various locations before moving to its current site in 1952, a building erected as a War Memorial with the support of the Ferriday community. Today, the library continues to thrive as an essential resource for residents and researchers alike.
About the Community
About Concordia Parish, Louisiana
Concordia Parish, located in northeastern Louisiana, is rich in history and culture. Established in 1807, the parish is bordered by the Mississippi River and is known for its agricultural roots and historic communities. The town of Ferriday, where the main branch of the library is located, is central to the parish's cultural and educational development.
Local History
Did You Know?
Did you know that the Concordia Parish Library was one of the first libraries in Louisiana to be fully supported by a local tax? This support has allowed the library to serve its community for nearly a century, providing free access to a wealth of knowledge and resources.
More ways to explore and share local history
Research Guidance
Compare accounts as you trace a story
The history of Ferriday includes individual lives as well as events remembered by the wider community. In the digital archive shared by the Concordia Parish Library, begin with a name, place or date connected with the story you want to explore. 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. Use a report's date to look for earlier or later coverage where those issues are available. Compare what each account says and what it leaves out, treating a related mention as a lead rather than a complete history.
Compare each newspaper account with a nearby dated issue where available, noting what changes or stays consistent. Keep alternate versions and unresolved details visible rather than blending distinct sources into one story. Use those differences to frame a next question, not to settle the account before the sources support it.
Keep source details beside each quotation or observation. If accounts differ, preserve both references and note what remains unresolved. Let the evidence, rather than a smooth retelling, show where the sources agree and where the story is still open.
Community Partnership
Keeping local history a community resource
This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Concordia Parish Library, 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.
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Why Microfilm is still important in 2023
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Don’t Search For An Obituary By Only Searching For An “Obituary”
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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
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March 24, 2025
This Week in History: March 24th through March 30th
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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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