4Titles
Explore publications and collections from the past.
Community History Archive Partner
Katonah Village Library
Katonah, New York
Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Katonah.
1899 to 1922Dates represented
See individual titles for available dates.
20,234Archive pages
Historical pages reported for this collection.
Explore local history
Discover the people, places, and stories of Katonah, New York.
Explore the past of Katonah, New York through newspapers in the Katonah Village Library's digital archive. Its four titles include material from 1899 to 1922.
Opens in a new tab.
-
Selected titles
In the collection shared by Katonah Village Library, you will find “Katonah Record” and “North Westchester Times”.
-
Free and open access
No subscription or payment required.
-
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.
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 four titles and 20,234 digitized pages, with material from 1899 to 1922. This collection is shared through Katonah Village Library'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.
Katonah Record
7,756 pages from 1914 to 1922
Katonah Times
5,074 pages from 1904 to 1909
North Westchester Times
3,358 pages from 1910 to 1913
The Katonah Times
4,046 pages from 1899 to 1903
Opens in a new tab.
About the Library
About The Katonah Village Library
The Katonah Village Library is dedicated to serving the educational, cultural, and recreational needs of the Katonah community. Located in the Town of Bedford in northern Westchester County, New York, the library offers a welcoming environment with a rich collection of materials and resources. The library features a wheelchair accessible entrance and parking lot, ensuring that all community members can easily access its services.
Library History
The History Of The Katonah Village Library
Katonah, one of the three hamlets in the Town of Bedford, has a unique history. The Katonah Village Library has moved and evolved along with the community. "Old Katonah" was the third settlement in this part of Westchester County in the first half of the nineteenth century. The Katonah Village Improvement Society (KVIS), initially known as the Katonah Village Improvement Association, was organized on October 21, 1878, with the aim of involving citizens in projects to enhance the beauty and safety of the village.
The first Library and Reading Room opened on December 10, 1880, on Railroad Ave, with 400 books donated by Association members. In the 1890s, the City of New York Water Supply condemned and purchased parcels of land where Old Katonah stood, necessitating the relocation of the village. The community formed a syndicate, planned a new village on higher ground, and physically moved more than 50 buildings from Old Katonah to New Katonah using horse-drawn soaped timber tracks.
In 1898, the library was temporarily relocated until enough funds were raised to construct a new building. Designed by architect Kerr Rainsford, the current library building was dedicated on December 5, 1930. In 1951, the Katonah Village Library was granted an Absolute Charter by the Education Department of NY. The library legally separated from the Katonah Village Improvement Society in 1952 to allow staff to enroll in the State Pension Plan. The library has undergone several renovations, including the addition of the Children’s Room in 1958, an expansion in 1968, and a lower-level remodel in 1992.
About the Community
About Katonah, New York
Katonah is a charming hamlet located in the Town of Bedford in northern Westchester County, New York. Known for its unique history and strong sense of community, Katonah has evolved significantly over the years. The Katonah Village Library plays a key role in the community, offering access to a wealth of historical documents and supporting the educational and recreational needs of its residents.
Local History
Did You Know?
Did you know that the Katonah Village Library's digital archive includes the Katonah Record, which has been in publication from 1914 to 1922? This extensive collection provides a valuable window into the past of Katonah and its surrounding areas, offering invaluable resources for historians and genealogists.
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 Katonah. The digital archive shared by the Katonah Village Library 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 Katonah Village 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
Preserving documents on microfilm has been a popular method of storage for many years, and it still holds many benefits today. Here…
Read article
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…
Read article
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…
Read article
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…
Read article
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,…
Read article
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.
Read article