7Titles
Explore publications and collections from the past.
Community History Archive Partner
Prairie Skies Public Library District
Ashland, Illinois
Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Ashland.
1885 to 1977Dates represented
See individual titles for available dates.
68,570Archive pages
Historical pages reported for this collection.
Explore local history
Discover the people, places, and stories of Ashland, Illinois.
Explore the past of Ashland, Illinois through newspapers in the Prairie Skies Public Library District's digital archive. Its seven titles include material from 1885 to 1977.
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Selected titles
Selected titles from Prairie Skies Public Library District include “Ashland Sentinel” and “The Weekly Press”.
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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 seven titles and 68,570 digitized pages, with material from 1885 to 1977. This collection is shared through Prairie Skies Public Library District'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.
Ashland Sentinel
2,500 pages from 1960 to 1966
Pleasant Plains Argus
2,392 pages from 1922 to 1927
Pleasant Plains Press
18,344 pages from 1936 to 1977
The Ashland Sentinel
36,794 pages from 1885 to 1960
The Pleasant Plains Argus
5,256 pages from 1927 to 1935
The Review
452 pages in 1901
The Weekly Press
2,832 pages from 1899 to 1923
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About the Archive
About the Prairie Skies Public Library District's History Archives
The Prairie Skies Public Library District offers free access to its historical resources through its digital archives, provided in partnership with Advantage Archives . The Prairie Skies Public Library District has digitized key local publications, preserving the region's historical narrative for public access and discovery.
About the Library
About the Prairie Skies Public Library District
The Prairie Skies Public Library District is dedicated to providing a balanced collection of materials and services for recreation, information, and education. By fostering lifelong learning opportunities and offering access to a wide range of materials and emerging technologies, the library adapts to the evolving needs of its community. Through its mission, the library increases public awareness and garners support for continued library service excellence.
Local History
Did You Know?
- The Prairie Skies Public Library District’s digital archive spans nearly a century of local history, capturing stories and events from as early as 1885.
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 Ashland. The digital archive shared by the Prairie Skies Public Library District 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.
Community Partnership
Keeping local history a community resource
This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Prairie Skies Public Library District, 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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