Lane Libraries provides students and teachers with access to a wide variety of materials on local history. These materials are found in special collections found in both the Smith Library of Regional History and the Cummins Room. In addition, Lane has worked closely with local Historian Jim Blount on providing access to his indexes of Butler County Place Names and to his Journal News columns since 1998.

The Smith Library of Regional History located in the Oxford Lane Library
The Smith Library of Regional History is a non-circulating collection of materials on the history of southwestern Ohio. In addition to books, photographs, maps, and newspapers, there are also letters, diaries, and personal papers of individuals along with the records of schools, churches, and businesses. All of these can be reproduced for the classroom and can be used in the study of local, state, or U.S. history. The Smith Library can provide an orientation slide program for teachers or for students in middle school or high school, and arrangements can be made for class visits. This library is located on the second floor of the Oxford Lane Library. A list of Resources for Teaching Local History is also available. For further information please contact Smith Library staff at 523-3035 or at sml@lanepl.org

The Smith Library of Regional History located in the Oxford Lane Library
Resource	Dates
Butler County Birth Records on microfilm	1867 - 1908
Butler County Death Records on microfilm	1867 - 1908
Butler County Marriage Records on microfilm	1803 - 1930
Butler County Wills on microfilm	1803 - 1912
Butler County Deeds on microfilm	1803 - 1863
U.S. Census Records on microfilm for Butler, Hamilton, Preble, Montgomery & Warren Counties	1820 - 1930
U.S. Geological Survey Maps for Butler County
Butler County Atlases and Maps	1836, 1855, 1868, 1875, 1895, 1904, 1914, 1925, 1930, 1980s - date
Snyder Photo Collection 1,500 photographs
McCord, Wright and Hoxie Photo Collection 1,500 Photographs
Greenwood Cemetery Interment Records on Microfiche	1848 - 1976
Butler County Cemetery Indexes
Cincinnati City Directories on microfiche	1819 - 1902
Hamilton City Directories	1858 - 1930 (incomplete) 1976, 1987, 1994-present
Oxford City Directories	1883, 1931, 1958, 1965, 1994 - present
Cincinnati Newspapers on microfilm	1793 - 1840
College Corner Newspapers on microfilm	1901 - 1991
Harrison Newspapers on microfilm	1871 - 1916
Oxford Newspapers on microfilm	1834 - present
Venice Newspapers on microfilm	1887 - 1912
Oxford Fire Insurance Maps	1887, 1892, 1899, 1911, 1925
Ohio Census Indexes	1820 - 1880
Oxford Names Index	1807 - date
Histories of Butler County villages, churches, schools, cemeteries, clubs and businesses
Yearbooks for Miami University, Western College for Women, Oxford College for Women	1890s - present (but not complete)
Yearbooks for Talawanda High School, Stewart High School, Hanover High School, Reily High School
College Corner High School, McGuffey High School
Rosters of Ohio Soldiers in the American Revolution, War of 1812, Mexican War, Civil War, and Spanish American War and World War I (plus indexes)
Passenger and Immigration Lists Indexed by Filby	Original series with supplements to 2009

 

Cummins Room located in the Hamilton Lane Library The Cummins Local History Room at the Main Library is named after George C. Cummins (1903-1980), a prominent Hamilton attorney and active local historian. The collection includes material related to the history of Butler County and a number of sources of interest to genealogists. Listed below are some of the most frequently used sources in the collection. For more information, please call the Information Services Department at (513) 894-7158 or send email to reference@lanepl.org.

Jim Blount Project and Lane Libraries
Lane Libraries supports two new local history resources provided by noted local historian Jim Blount. They include:

Index of Butler County Places Names
This compilation began on a small scale in the summer of 1952 when a young newspaper reporter realized he needed more information about places in his native Butler County. His brief reference notes progressed from a few scrapes of paper to a small notebook, to a larger loose-leaf notebook and finally to an alphabetized collection in a computer. Over the years, the scope has expanded to include some places bordering Butler County, frequently mentioned places in other counties and places often erroneously identified as in Butler County. The list provides interesting details and facts about a number of locations in Butler County. It is searchable through an alphabetical listing of places.

Index of Mr. Blount's Journal News Columns since 1998