4Titles
Explore publications and collections from the past.
Community History Archive Partner
Heart of America Library
Rugby, North Dakota
Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Rugby.
1891 to 2023Dates represented
See individual titles for available dates.
191,648Archive pages
Historical pages reported for this collection.
Explore local history
Discover the people, places, and stories of Rugby, North Dakota.
Discover another side of Rugby, North Dakota through newspapers preserved in the Heart of America Library's digital archive. Its four titles include material from 1891 to 2023.
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Selected titles
Explore titles such as “The Pierce County Globe” and “The Wolford Mirror”, shared by Heart of America Library.
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Free and open access
No subscription or payment required.
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A closer look
Newspaper pages connect individual accounts with a wider story, preserving how events were reported and presented to the readers of the day.
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 four titles and 191,648 digitized pages, with material from 1891 to 2023. Through a partnership with Advantage Archives, Heart of America Library shares these sources from the past. 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.
The Pierce County Globe
28 pages from 1926 to 1927
The Pierce County Tribune
180,010 pages from 1891 to 2023
The Pierce County Tribune And Rugby Optimist
752 pages in 1916
The Wolford Mirror
10,858 pages from 1906 to 1923
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About the Archive
About The Heart of America Library’s History Archives
Explore the Heart of America Library ’s digital archives, made possible through a partnership with Advantage Archives . These archives provide free access to historical newspapers and records, helping to preserve the rich history of Rugby, Pierce County, and the surrounding areas in North Dakota . The archive is a valuable resource for historians, genealogists, and local history enthusiasts.
About the Library
About The Heart of America Library
The Heart of America Library serves the community of Rugby, Pierce County, and the surrounding area. Our goal is to be an essential part of the lives of the people we serve by providing access to a wide range of resources and services.
Partner Story
Mission and Vision
Vision: Our vision is to be a thriving library that is an integral part of the lives of the people we serve by providing a clean and welcoming building, maintaining an up-to-date, well-organized collection, and ensuring friendly, professional staff are always available to assist. Mission: The mission of the library is to provide the community of Rugby, Pierce County, and surrounding areas with effective public library services. We strive to anticipate the future needs of our citizens and continuously adapt to provide the best services possible.
More ways to explore and share local history
Research Guidance
Follow a report into its setting
The history of Rugby includes individual lives as well as events remembered by the wider community. In the digital archive shared by the Heart of America 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. 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 Heart of America 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.
May 7, 2025
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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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
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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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