The Wisconsin Historical Society recently put more than 80 standard county histories online. The collection totals about 56,000 pages and is being enthusiastically welcomed by genealogists, local historians, archivists and public librarians. These books typically were published 1880-1920 and contain several hundred pages filled with pioneer recollections and other local data that was not recorded anywhere else.
Most of these volumes are several hundred pages long and include detailed accounts of individual cities, townships and villages, as well as biographical sketches of prominent residents.
Most of these volumes are several hundred pages long and include detailed accounts of individual cities, townships and villages, as well as biographical sketches of prominent residents.
Every word on their 56,000 pages is searchable, so you can find specific descriptions of people, places, and events. Every volume can be downloaded to your own computer for free as a PDF file (to acquire the PDF when viewing a volume, open the drop-down at the upper left labeled \"document description\"). Because many of these books are very large, be patient when opening or downloading them.
You can find the Wisconsin histories at http://www.wisconsinhistory.org.
