Local history
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Local history is the study of history in a geographically local context and it often concentrates on the local community. It incorporates cultural and social aspects of history. Historic plaques are one form of documentation of significant occurrences in the past and oral histories are another.
Local history is often documented by local historical societies or groups that form to preserve a local historic building or other historic site. Many works of local history are compiled by amateur historians working independently or archivists employed by various organizations. An important aspect of local history is the publication and cataloguing of documents preserved in local or national records which relate to particular areas.
Artifacts of local history are often collected in local history museums, which may be housed in a historic house or other building. Individual historic sites are inherently local, although they may have national or world history importance as well.
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[edit] United Kingdom
The British Association for Local History in the United Kingdom encourages and assists in the study of local history as an academic discipline and as a leisure activity by both individuals and groups. Most historic counties in England have record societies and archaeological and historical societies which coordinate the work of historians and other researchers concerned with that area.
[edit] United States
In the United States of America, local history is usually concentrated on any history of the place and people from a particular village or township. Several villages and townships would comprise one county or county history. Library records are often divided by State, then county, then township/local history. The American Local History Network (ALHN) in the USA provides a focus for accessing independent genealogical and historical resources.
In the United States, 79,000 historic sites are identified as listings on its National Register of Historic Places. State and local municipalities often have additional landmark designations to cover sites of more purely local interest.
The Shushan Bridge is a listed, historic covered bridge in New York State that is closed to traffic, and which now serves as a seasonal local museum.
[edit] See also
- English local history
- Family history
- Historic preservation
- Microhistory
- Arcadia Publishing - leading local history publisher in the United States, with a catalog of more than 5,000 titles in print and hundreds of new titles released every year.
[edit] External links
- American Local History Network, USA.
- Local History from the National Archives, UK.
- Local History Trails from the BBC.
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