Online History Resources

We, at the Regional History Center, have a few favorites for researching local history online. These quality sites are listed below.  We find them very useful in answering many of the questions concerning our history.

Online History Resources

Library of Congress The Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in its collections.

Mountain West Digital Library The Mountain West Digital Library is a central search portal for digital collections about the Mountain West region.  It provides free access to over 650,000 resources from universities, colleges, public libraries, museums, historical societies, and government agencies, counties, and municipalities in Utah, Nevada, and other parts of the U.S. West.

Smithsonian was founded in 1846.  The Smithsonian is the world’s largest museum and research complex, consisting of 19 museums and galleries, the National Zoological Park and nine research facilities.

Uintah Basin Teaching American History  This site was originally a project funded by a Teaching American History Grant.   Scholar Antonio Arce (director of the Ute Tribe Education Department), compiled a vast amount of highly significant historic resources from historic markers, to websites that offer general overviews of the past. The web site focuses on Western American history and includes a variety of Native American Indian references.

Utah American Indian Digital Archive   A joint project of The Utah Division of Indian Affairs, KUED, the University of Utah’s Marriott Library, and the American West Center.   This site contains completely digitized historically significant documents, photographs, books, and more relating to Utah’s recognized American Indian Tribes.

Utah Digital Newspapers  Online access to historical newspapers throughout Utah including the Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News, Vernal Express, Myton Free Press, and many other regional Utah newspapers. This s a great collection of primary source newspapers for avid historians and beginners.  Newspapers help us to find the context for photographs, documents and life activities.  They are also useful for those researching their own family roots–especially if you know which town your family lived.

Utah Historical Society   The Utah Historical Society, in cooperation with the Utah Division of State History, publish the Utah Historical Quarterly, and has a vast collection of historic Utah sources including Pioneer era Letters, Diaries, Photographs and collections that document the history of the state.