10Titles
Explore publications and collections from the past.
Community History Archive Partner
Pittsfield Public Library
Pittsfield, Illinois
Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Pittsfield.
1846 to 2014Dates represented
See individual titles for available dates.
137,830Archive pages
Historical pages reported for this collection.
Explore local history
Discover the people, places, and stories of Pittsfield, Illinois.
Explore the past of Pittsfield, Illinois through newspapers in the Pittsfield Public Library's digital archive. Its ten titles include material from 1846 to 2014.
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Selected titles
In the collection shared by Pittsfield Public Library, you will find “Pike County Democrat” and “The Democratic Herald”.
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Free and open access
No subscription or payment required.
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A closer look
An earlier generation comes into view through the stories its newspapers chose to report, placing familiar names and events within the concerns of their time.
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 ten titles and 137,830 digitized pages, with material from 1846 to 2014. This collection is shared through Pittsfield Public Library's partnership with Advantage Archives. Some years or items may be missing between the dates shown.
If you are tracing a family connection or exploring local history, the titles below offer a place to begin and a thread to follow.
Pike County Democrat
16,164 pages from 1898 to 1917
Pike County Democrat-Times
22,910 pages from 1937 to 1961
Pike County Express
2,644 pages in 2014
Pike County Free Press
1,042 pages from 1846 to 1849
Pike County Republican
23,914 pages from 1918 to 1946
The Democratic Herald
2,554 pages from 1881 to 1887
The Pike County Democrat
34,190 pages from 1860 to 1936
The Pike County Journal
768 pages from 1860 to 1862
The Pike County Republican
25,038 pages from 1946 to 1962
The Pike County Times
8,606 pages from 1928 to 1937
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About the Library
About The Pittsfield Public Library
Founded in 1855 with 40 members and 400 volumes, the Pittsfield Public Library has long been a staple of the Illinois community. One of its earliest trustees was John G. Nicolay, later known as President Abraham Lincoln’s personal secretary. The library officially became a public institution in 1874, initially funded through subscriptions and eventually by a small tax in 1879.
Library History
The History Of The Pittsfield Public Library
In 1907, the library moved to its current location, made possible by a generous $7,500 donation from Andrew Carnegie and further support from Judge Harry Higbee and his mother, Mrs. Julia Higbee. This historic Carnegie Library has expanded over the years, notably with a west-side annex donated by Fred Bennett Jones in 1937, which added 5,000 volumes from his collection and several items relating to the Grant family. The library celebrated its centennial in 2007 with an Open House event, unveiling items from its cornerstone placed 100 years prior. Recent renovations have enhanced accessibility with a vertical platform lift and expanded spaces, especially for the Children’s Library. The library remains a hub for community engagement and local history.
Local History
Did You Know?
Did you know that the Pittsfield Public Library was one of the early benefactors of Andrew Carnegie’s library-building initiative? Thanks to his contribution, Pittsfield residents have enjoyed a dedicated library space since 1907, continuing a legacy of learning and history preservation.
More ways to explore and share local history
Research Guidance
Look for the story behind a result
A family name, a familiar street or a story passed down through generations can lead to a closer look at the history of Pittsfield. The digital archive shared by the Pittsfield Public Library 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. Search a person, place, or event with a second term, then compare the date and context of each result. A repeated name needs more evidence before it identifies the same person or connects two parts of a story.
After recording the issue and page, search a second term tied to the result and compare the surrounding dates and accounts. Keep matching names provisional until the place and context fit. This can turn one result into a better question without turning a repeated name into a confirmed story.
Capture the title, date, and page or item location for a detail you may want to revisit. Label your interpretation as your reading, not the source's own words. Keep enough context with the note that another reader can retrace it.
Community Partnership
Keeping local history a community resource
This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Pittsfield 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.
May 7, 2025
Why Microfilm is still important in 2023
Preserving documents on microfilm has been a popular method of storage for many years, and it still holds many benefits today. Here…
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May 7, 2025
Don’t Search For An Obituary By Only Searching For An “Obituary”
In the quest to trace our roots and understand our heritage, obituaries often serve as a crucial starting point. Obituaries are undoubtedly…
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April 9, 2025
Unveiling the Hidden Mysteries: Exploring Cold Cases and Unconventional Clues
Even the most esteemed police forces in the county encounter perplexing cold case files. These unsolved mysteries often leave investigators and genealogists…
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April 1, 2025
This Week in History: March 31st through April 6th
Discover History in The Community History Archives. This week in history, there is absolutely nothing to talk about… April Fools! April…
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March 24, 2025
This Week in History: March 24th through March 30th
Discover History in The Community History Archives. It has officially been a year since I started writing This Week in History,…
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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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