7Titles
Explore publications and collections from the past.
Community History Archive Partner
Kentucky Genealogical Society
Lexington, Kentucky
Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Lexington.
1877 to 2014Dates represented
See individual titles for available dates.
73,986Archive pages
Historical pages reported for this collection.
Explore local history
Discover the people, places, and stories of Lexington, Kentucky.
Discover another side of Lexington, Kentucky through newspapers and religious organization documents preserved in the Kentucky Genealogical Society's digital archive. Its seven titles include material from 1877 to 2014.
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Selected titles
A selection from Kentucky Genealogical Society: “Cedar Grove Baptist Church” and “The Livingston Newsletter”.
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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 seven titles and 73,986 digitized pages, with material from 1877 to 2014. Through a partnership with Advantage Archives, Kentucky Genealogical Society 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.
Cedar Grove Baptist Church
2,928 pages from 1877 to 2007
Odd Fellows Lodge 293
16,434 pages from 1890 to 2004
The Livingston County News
8 pages in 1960
The Livingston Enterprise
176 pages from 1924 to 1934
The Livingston Leader
352 pages from 1941 to 1952
The Livingston Ledger
52,720 pages from 1965 to 2014
The Livingston Newsletter
1,368 pages from 1967 to 1969
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About the Archive
About The Kentucky Genealogical Society’s History Archives
The Kentucky Genealogical Society provides free and open access to Kentucky family history resources and genealogical records through its growing digital archive initiatives and preservation efforts. Through a partnership with Advantage Archives , the Society helps make historical records, genealogical materials, and local history publications more discoverable and accessible for researchers, genealogists, and community historians across the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The archive includes digitized family records, county materials, cemetery documentation, tax lists, historical publications, and genealogical resources spanning the late 18th century through the modern era. These collections preserve firsthand accounts and historical records that support genealogy research, local history discovery, and greater public accessibility to Kentucky’s collective history.
Partner Story
Family History and Genealogical Records
- Kentucky Cemetery Records (18th century–present)
- Kentucky Family Bible Records (18th century–20th century)
- Kentucky Tax Lists and Census Records (1790s–1800s)
- Kentucky County Genealogical Collections (varied years)
Local History
Local History Resources
- Bluegrass Roots Magazine (modern publication)
- Kentucky Historical Publications (varied years)
- Digitized County Records (1800s–1900s)
- Kentucky Surname Research Collections (varied years)
The Society’s collections and digitization efforts provide researchers with access to primary source documents that help preserve “history as it happened” throughout Kentucky’s 120 counties. Through collaborative projects, including partnerships with FamilySearch and local organizations, the Society continues expanding digital accessibility to records essential for genealogy and historical research.
About the Society
About The Kentucky Genealogical Society
The Kentucky Genealogical Society is a nonprofit, volunteer-run genealogical organization headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded to connect family historians and researchers interested in Kentucky ancestry, the Society provides educational programs, webinars, publications, networking opportunities, and digitization initiatives that support genealogy research across all 120 Kentucky counties. Although operated as a virtual organization without a physical public facility, the Society maintains extensive online educational resources and collaborative preservation programs designed to improve accessibility to Kentucky historical content and genealogical materials. Its members include researchers and historians from across the United States and internationally who share a common interest in Kentucky family history.
Institution History
The History Of The Kentucky Genealogical Society
The Kentucky Genealogical Society was founded in 1973 by a group of genealogists led by Charles Edwin Shelby, who recognized the need for stronger collaboration and communication among Kentucky family historians. Shelby, previously active in genealogical societies in Iowa, believed Kentucky represented one of the nation’s most important centers for genealogical research but lacked a unified statewide organization. From its beginning, the Society focused on education, preservation, and information sharing among researchers. Over the decades, the organization expanded its role through publications, seminars, digitization grants, and statewide preservation initiatives that continue to safeguard Kentucky records and improve public access to genealogy resources.
About the Community
About Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, located in the Bluegrass region of central Kentucky, is known for its deep connections to horse racing, agriculture, education, and early American settlement. Founded in 1775, the city became one of Kentucky’s earliest and most influential communities, serving as a center for commerce, politics, and culture throughout the state’s development. Lexington’s historical significance is reflected in its universities, archives, libraries, and historical organizations that continue preserving records and stories tied to Kentucky’s collective heritage. Today, the city remains an important hub for genealogy and historical research throughout the Commonwealth.
Local History
Did You Know?
Did you know that the Kentucky Genealogical Society has helped support digitization projects for county records across Kentucky since the 1970s? These preservation efforts have included cemetery transcriptions, tax lists, census indexing projects, and family Bible records, helping researchers around the world discover and connect with their Kentucky ancestors through accessible digital archives.
More ways to explore and share local history
Research Guidance
Compare accounts as you trace a story
If a story about Lexington has been passed down in your family or community, start with the detail you can check. Search the newspaper titles shared by the Kentucky Genealogical Society for a name, place, or event and compare what each available report says before 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 Kentucky Genealogical 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.
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Unveiling the Hidden Mysteries: Exploring Cold Cases and Unconventional Clues
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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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