Local and county histories have been published across the country for well over 100 years. Just imagine all the names they contain! Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to search through them all from one convenient location?

Say no more, because the Family History Archive has you covered. The joint effort between the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Brigham Young University’s Harold B. Lee Library, and FamilySearch’s Family History Library in Salt Lake City was announced in mid-August.

These three genealogical libraries are pooling their collections in a massive digitization effort of more than 100,000 published family histories and thousands of local histories that are rich in names as well as biographical and genealogical data associated with those names. “Publishing those collections from the three libraries involved will make a significant and attractive family history digital library online for genealogists and historians,” said David Rencher, director of Records and Information for FamilySearch.

When complete, it will be the most comprehensive collection of city and county histories on the Web—and access will be free at www.familyhistoryarchive.byu.edu, and if you follow that link today, you can start searching what’s already there.

“I believe the most immediate, substantial contribution of this collaboration will be the addition of local history materials,” said Allen County Public Library’s Genealogy Center Manager, Curt Witcher. The collaborative project will digitally scan thousands of historic city directories, as well as city and county histories from North America. The ACPL and the Family History Library have the largest collections of city and county histories from North America. “I believe the strength of our two well known, well used, and well loved institutions working together is a terrific benefit to the genealogical community,” added Witcher.

FamilySearch is providing the computers, scanners, and camera operators required to complete the project. FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. FamilySearch maintains the world’s largest repository of genealogical resources accessed through FamilySearch.org, the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, and over 4,500 family history centers in 70 countries.