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Community History Archives

Community History Archive Partner

Montpelier Harrison Township Public Library

Montpelier, Indiana

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

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2Titles

Explore publications and collections from the past.

1944 to 2016Dates represented

See individual titles for available dates.

17,890Archive pages

Historical pages reported for this collection.

Explore local history

Discover the people, places, and stories of Montpelier, Indiana.

Get to know Montpelier, Indiana in earlier years through the newspapers shared in the Montpelier Harrison Township Public Library's digital archive. The archive includes Montpelier Herald and Montpelier Weekly, with material from 1944 to 2016.

You can open the archive using the link below.
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  • Selected titles

    Selected titles from Montpelier Harrison Township Public Library include “Montpelier Herald” and “Montpelier Weekly”.

  • 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.

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

Explore Montpelier Herald and Montpelier Weekly through 17,890 digitized pages, with material from 1944 to 2016. A partnership between Montpelier Harrison Township Public Library and Advantage Archives makes this collection available. 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.

Montpelier Herald

9,402 pages from 1944 to 2005

Montpelier Weekly

8,488 pages from 2005 to 2016

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About the Archive

About the Montpelier Harrison Township Public Library’s Digital Archives

The Montpelier Harrison Township Public Library offers free and open access to its digitized collection of historical newspapers, genealogical records, photographs, yearbooks, and municipal documents—providing an invaluable educational resource for researchers, genealogists, and community members interested in exploring Montpelier’s collective history. In partnership with Advantage Archives , the library upholds a shared responsibility to make primary sources discoverable—preserving firsthand perspectives and ensuring “history as it happened” remains accessible.

Montpelier Harrison Township Public Library photo 1

About the Library

About the Montpelier Harrison Township Public Library

Located at 301 South Main Street in Montpelier, Indiana, the Montpelier Harrison Township Public Library serves the local community and broader Harrison Township as a gateway to educational engagement and historical continuity. The library connects patrons to modern discovery tools like e-books and audiobooks through the eIndiana Digital Consortium, while maintaining its mission of preserving local history.

Library History

The History of the Montpelier Carnegie Library

The original public library building—known as the Montpelier Carnegie Library—was funded in 1907–08 by a $10,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie, reflecting the philanthropist’s commitment to creating free, accessible public libraries under the “Carnegie formula.” The Classical Revival-style, brick-and-limestone building was expanded with a brick addition in 1992, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

About the Community

About Montpelier & Harrison Township, Indiana

Montpelier is a small city in Harrison Township, Blackford County, Indiana, founded by settlers from Vermont in 1836 and once central to the late-19th-century Gas and Oil Boom. Originally named for Vermont’s capital, the city earned the nickname “Oil City” and was a regional boomtown before transitioning to a stable community of approximately 1,540 residents as of the 2020 census.

Local History

Did You Know?

A distinctive Plains Indian statue by Chief Larry Godfroy stands in downtown Montpelier as a gift from the chief, honoring the Miami Nation whose ancestral lands include the area. It became a memorable part of Montpelier's cultural heritage and was even featured in the opening montage of the television program *Parks and Recreation*. Discover newspapers, photographs, genealogical indexes, and more by visiting the digital archive: Explore the Montpelier Harrison Township Public Library Digital Archives .

More ways to explore and share local history

Research Guidance

Read a report in its time and place

Start with something you would like to understand about the past of Montpelier. It might be a person, a neighborhood or an event remembered in your family. Use the digital archive shared by the Montpelier Harrison Township 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. 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 Montpelier Harrison Township 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
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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