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Community History Archives

Community History Archive Partner

Perry Public Library

Perry, New York

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

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25Titles

Explore publications and collections from the past.

1837 to 2014Dates represented

See individual titles for available dates.

130,722Archive pages

Historical pages reported for this collection.

Explore local history

Discover the people, places, and stories of Perry, New York.

Discover another side of Perry, New York through newspapers preserved in the Perry Public Library's digital archive. Its twenty-five titles include material from 1837 to 2014.

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

    Examples from Perry Public Library’s collection include “American Citizen” and “Wyoming 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.

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 twenty-five titles and 130,722 digitized pages, with material from 1837 to 2014. Through a partnership with Advantage Archives, Perry Public Library shares these sources from the past. 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.

American Citizen

32 pages from 1837 to 1838

Buffalo Evening News

36 pages in 1941

Countryman

540 pages from 1843 to 1845

Democrat And Chronicle

8 pages in 1944

Free Citizen

212 pages from 1846 to 1847

Herald

1,678 pages from 1877 to 1881

Impartial Countryman

288 pages from 1845 to 1846

New York Times

24 pages in 1942

Perry Democrat

456 pages from 1840 to 1848

Perry Herald

109,598 pages from 1882 to 2014

Perry Herald And News

7,998 pages from 1892 to 1907

Perry Herald News

928 pages from 1905 to 1908

Perry Live Wire News

16 pages in 1934

Perry Record

40 pages from 1946 to 1947

Perry Semi Weekly Herald

4,804 pages from 1908 to 1912

Perry Star

552 pages from 1874 to 1876

Register

8 pages in 1840

Rochester Times Union

8 pages in 1939

Silver Lake Herald

24 pages in 1900

Silver Lake Sun

3,154 pages from 1865 to 1877

Stars And Stripes

16 pages in 1944

Western New Yorker

10 pages in 1901

Wyoming County Herald

184 pages in 1877

Wyoming County Star

8 pages in 1938

Wyoming Times

100 pages from 1847 to 1901

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About the Library

About The Perry Public Library

The Perry Public Library, located in Perry, New York, has a rich history of serving the community by providing access to a wide range of materials and resources. The library holds a collection of past issues of the Perry Herald from the late 1800s to the present. These archives have been transferred to a searchable online database through the generous donations of local Perryians, a bullet aid grant provided by Senator Patrick Gallivan, and donations from Project Read in honor of members Ruth Parker and Vera Parmiter for their many years of service.

Perry Public Library photo 1

Library History

The History Of The Perry Public Library

The Perry Public Library was established to meet the educational and informational needs of the Perry community. Over the years, the library has grown and adapted to provide a comprehensive collection of materials, including historical newspapers and documents. The digitization of the Perry Herald and other local newspapers has made it easier for researchers and genealogists to access valuable historical information.

About the Community

About Perry, New York

Perry, located in Wyoming County, New York, is a vibrant town with a rich history and a strong sense of community. The Perry Public Library plays a key role in the town, offering access to a wide range of resources and supporting the educational and recreational needs of its residents. The town’s history is well-documented through the library’s extensive collection of local newspapers and other historical materials.

Perry Public Library photo 2

Local History

Did You Know?

Did you know that the Perry Public Library's digital archive includes the Perry Herald, which has been in publication from 1882 to 2014? This extensive collection provides a valuable window into the past of Perry and its surrounding areas, offering invaluable resources for historians and genealogists.

More ways to explore and share local history

Research Guidance

Check a text match against the page

The history of Perry includes individual lives as well as events remembered by the wider community. In the digital archive shared by the Perry Public Library, begin with a name, place or date connected with the story you want to explore. 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.

Review collection titles

Community Partnership

Keeping local history a community resource

This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Perry 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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