19Titles
Explore publications and collections from the past.
Community History Archive Partner
Garnavillo Historical Society
Garnavillo, Iowa
Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Garnavillo.
1853 to 1988Dates represented
See individual titles for available dates.
34,028Archive pages
Historical pages reported for this collection.
Explore local history
Discover the people, places, and stories of Garnavillo, Iowa.
Explore the past of Garnavillo, Iowa through newspapers in the Garnavillo Historical Society's digital archive. Its nineteen titles include material from 1853 to 1988.
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Selected titles
In the collection shared by Garnavillo Historical Society, you will find “Century of Presidents” and “The Wis-Owa Press”.
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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 nineteen titles and 34,028 digitized pages, with material from 1853 to 1988. This collection is shared through Garnavillo Historical Society's partnership with Advantage Archives. Some years or items may be missing between the dates shown.
If you are tracing a family connection or exploring local history, the titles below offer a place to begin and a thread to follow.
Century of Presidents
8 pages in 1889
Clayton County Herald
1,244 pages from 1853 to 1857
Clayton County Journal
88 pages from 1860 to 1876
Clayton County Journal
Page count not currently available dates not yet available
Cosmocrat
208 pages from 1930 to 1933
Garnavillo Gem Book
1,136 pages in 1988
Garnavillo Independent
24 pages in 1907
Garnavillo Observer
464 pages from 1964 to 1965
Garnavillo Sentinel
812 pages from 1893 to 1897
Garnavillo Tribune
18,400 pages from 1910 to 1945
Guttenberg Press
8,774 pages from 1932 to 1945
Nord Iowa Herold
48 pages in 1916
Spot-Lite
48 pages from 1936 to 1937
The Clayton County Journal
2,052 pages from 1859 to 1868
The Clayton Picket
218 pages from 1895 to 1897
The Exhaust
448 pages from 1927 to 1930
The Garnavillo Observer
12 pages in 1965
The Microphone
36 pages from 1937 to 1940
The Wis-Owa Press
8 pages in 1955
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About the Community
About Garnavillo, IA
Garnavillo was established in 1857. Located in Northeastern Iowa , it is a town rich in history and community spirit. Garnavillo is known for its historic buildings, friendly residents, and vibrant local culture.
Partner Story
Contact Information
Address: 204 East Center Street, Garnavillo, IA Phone: (555) 555-1234 Email: garnavillohistorical@ghsociety.org Website: www.garnavillohistorical.org
Partner Story
Hours of Operation
- Monday: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
- Tuesday: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
- Wednesday: Closed
- Thursday: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
- Friday: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
- Saturday: 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
- Sunday: Closed
More ways to explore and share local history
Research Guidance
Look for the story behind a result
A family name, a familiar street or a story passed down through generations can lead to a closer look at the history of Garnavillo. The digital archive shared by the Garnavillo 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. Search a person, place, or event with a second term, then compare the date and context of each result. A repeated name needs more evidence before it identifies the same person or connects two parts of a story.
After recording the issue and page, search a second term tied to the result and compare the surrounding dates and accounts. Keep matching names provisional until the place and context fit. This can turn one result into a better question without turning a repeated name into a confirmed story.
Capture the title, date, and page or item location for a detail you may want to revisit. Label your interpretation as your reading, not the source's own words. Keep enough context with the note that another reader can retrace it.
Community Partnership
Keeping local history a community resource
This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Garnavillo 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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