Explore publications and collections from the past.
Community History Archive Partner
Kenedy Public Library
Kenedy, Texas
Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Kenedy.
See individual titles for available dates.
Historical pages reported for this collection.
Explore local history
Discover the people, places, and stories of Kenedy, Texas.
Get to know Kenedy, Texas in earlier years through the newspapers shared in the Kenedy Public Library's digital archive. Its eleven titles include material from 1887 to 2024.
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Selected titles
Examples from Kenedy Public Library’s collection include “Karnes Citation” and “The Progress”.
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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.
Historical newspapers can connect a family name with the events and everyday concerns of an earlier time, offering more than a date or a name on its own. Bring a family connection, a question about a familiar place or an interest in local history, and see where the sources lead. Explore the archive online for free, without a subscription.
Explore the collection
Titles in this collection
Browse eleven titles and 190,746 digitized pages, with material from 1887 to 2024. A partnership between Kenedy Public Library and Advantage Archives makes this collection available. Some years or items may be missing between the dates shown.
Start with a detail you already know, then browse the titles below for another perspective on the people and places connected with this collection.
Karnes Citation
3,678 pages from 1990 to 1997
Karnes County News
56,322 pages from 1889 to 1979
Karnes County Times
1,208 pages in 2010
Karnes Countywide
46,014 pages from 1998 to 2023
Kenedy Advance
53,436 pages from 1911 to 1982
Kenedy Advance Times
14,990 pages from 1982 to 1988
Kenedy Advance Times
10,994 pages from 1989 to 1997
The Karnes County News
54 pages from 1887 to 1889
The Karnes Countywide
2,078 pages in 2019
The Karnes Countywide
1,916 pages in 2024
The Progress
56 pages in 2023
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About the Library
About The Kenedy City Library
The Kenedy City Library, located inside City Hall in Kenedy, Texas, provides a variety of books and technology services to the community. The library's collection contains 20,855 volumes and circulates 24,260 items per year. It serves as a vital educational resource for the residents of Kenedy and the surrounding areas.
Library History
The History Of The Kenedy City Library
Kenedy, known initially as Kenedy Junction, was established by Mifflin Kenedy in 1886 at the Y Junction of Highway 181 and Highway 72. What started as a small community with only a railroad junction and hotel quickly grew into the area's economic center. Kenedy has a rich and colorful history, earning the nickname “Six Shooter Junction” and being named the “Horned Frog Capital of Texas” in 2000. The Kenedy Post Office was one of the few post offices to be part of the New Deal Art Murals program. During World War II, Kenedy was home to the Kenedy Alien Detention Camp, which detained single males with alien status, including citizens of German, Japanese, or Italian descent within the United States or Latin American countries. The camp later served as a prisoner-of-war camp for German and Japanese soldiers.
About the Community
About Karnes County, Texas
Karnes County, located in south-central Texas, has a diverse and fascinating history. Established in 1854, the county is named after Henry Karnes, a soldier in the Texas Revolution. The area is known for its rich agricultural heritage, oil production, and historical significance. Kenedy, the county seat, has been a hub of economic and cultural activity since its founding.
Local History
Did You Know?
Kenedy was once known as “Six Shooter Junction” due to its rough-and-tumble reputation during its early years. The Kenedy Alien Detention Camp, established during World War II, was later converted into a prisoner-of-war camp for German and Japanese soldiers. Kenedy was named the “Horned Frog Capital of Texas” in 2000, highlighting its unique local wildlife.
More ways to explore and share local history
Research Guidance
Check a text match against the page
Start with something you would like to understand about the past of Kenedy. It might be a person, a neighborhood or an event remembered in your family. Use the digital archive shared by the Kenedy Public Library to follow that question into the historical record. 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. If a search result looks incomplete or misspelled, inspect the scanned page when available. Record the issue date and page, then distinguish the printed wording from search text before following the story to another mention.
If a text match looks incomplete, compare it with the scanned newspaper page when available. Check whether wording or names differ, then record the page's printed wording with the issue date and page. Keep the search result distinct from what the page itself shows.
As you connect materials, note where each detail came from and what it can support. Record the title, date, and page or item reference where available. Keep names and relationships tentative until the evidence is strong enough to connect them, and mark which words come from the record and which are your interpretation.
Community Partnership
Keeping local history a community resource
This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Kenedy Public 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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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
April 1, 2025
This Week in History: March 31st through April 6th
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This Week in History: March 24th through March 30th
March 18, 2025
