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Community History Archive Partner

LaSalle Parish Library - LA

Alexandria, Louisiana

Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Alexandria.

18Titles

Explore publications and collections from the past.

1903 to 2020Dates represented

See individual titles for available dates.

236,638Archive pages

Historical pages reported for this collection.

Explore local history

LaSalle Parish Library – LA makes Alexandria history freely accessible.

Explore the past of Alexandria, Louisiana through newspapers in the LaSalle Parish Library - LA's digital archive. Its eighteen titles include material from 1903 to 2020.

  • Selected titles

    Selected titles from LaSalle Parish Library - LA include “Alexandria Daily Town Talk” and “Winnfield Times”.

  • Free and open access

    No subscription or payment required.

  • 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 eighteen titles and 236,638 digitized pages, with material from 1903 to 2020. This collection is shared through LaSalle Parish Library - LA's partnership with Advantage Archives. Some years or items may be missing between the dates shown.

Follow a family connection or a question about the community through the titles below and the history they preserve.

Alexandria Daily Town Talk

16 pages in 1917

Caldwell Watchman

256 pages from 1920 to 1928

Cataboula News

8 pages in 1925

Colfax Chronicle

48 pages from 1923 to 1928

Jena Times

196,968 pages from 1906 to 2020

Jena Times And The Olla Signal

48 pages in 1935

Jena Times And The Olla Tullos Signal

160 pages from 1937 to 1942

Jena Times Olla Tullos Urania Signal

166 pages from 1935 to 1942

Jena Times Olla Tullos Urania Signal

11,030 pages from 2009 to 2011

Olla Signal

60 pages from 1927 to 1928

Sgt. Daltons Weekly

8 pages in 1922

The Olla And Tullos Signal

25,984 pages from 1936 to 1969

The Olla Signal

1,424 pages from 1933 to 1936

Times Picayune

20 pages in 1920

Winn Parish Enterprise

116 pages from 1925 to 1928

Winnfield Comrade

8 pages in 1903

Winnfield News American

310 pages from 1923 to 1928

Winnfield Times

8 pages in 1921

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About the Library

About LaSalle Parish Library

The library is dedicated to offering informational, educational, recreational, and cultural enrichment opportunities for all residents of LaSalle Parish, Louisiana. With a commitment to providing free and equal access to resources, the library continues to serve as a vital hub of knowledge and learning for the local community.

Library History

The History Of LaSalle Parish Library

The library has been an important institution for many years, connecting the community with valuable resources and historical records. Through partnerships and collaborations, including the digital archiving project with Advantage Archives, the library preserves the rich cultural heritage of LaSalle Parish, ensuring that current and future generations have access to these invaluable historical documents.

About the Community

About LaSalle Parish, Louisiana

LaSalle Parish, located in the heart of Louisiana , is known for its deep history, vibrant communities, and rich cultural heritage. From its early settlement days to its thriving communities today, LaSalle Parish offers a blend of historical significance and modern progress, with the library playing a key role in preserving and promoting its history.

Local History

Did You Know?

Did you know that LaSalle Parish Library has been providing access to local historical newspapers dating back to 1903? These archives offer a window into the past, capturing events, stories, and the lives of residents over the decades.

More ways to explore and share local history

Research Guidance

Read a report in its time and place

A family name, a familiar street or a story passed down through generations can lead to a closer look at the history of Alexandria. The digital archive shared by the LaSalle Parish Library - LA 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. Check nearby issues or another listed newspaper when available. Differences in timing and wording can add perspective to a story, while the issue date and surrounding articles help show what kind of account you are reading.

Follow a promising report into a nearby issue or another title where available. Compare dates and surrounding coverage; a single account is one perspective on a story. Use the surrounding account to shape your next question, while keeping each source's perspective distinct.

Keep the title, date, page, or item reference with each useful finding. Separate the words in a historical account from your interpretation, and note conflicting perspectives rather than choosing one too quickly. These notes help connect a local story to its evidence and show what remains uncertain.

Review collection titles

Community Partnership

Keeping local history a community resource

This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the LaSalle Parish Library - LA, 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
Read All About It

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.

Newest published articles

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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