Our local history collection includes Republic County newspapers, state and federal censuses, and land plats on microfilm. We also have cemetery and marriage records indexed by surname, along with many community, church, school and family histories pertaining to Republic County. Click here to see what’s available in our collection:
Belleville Public Library Genealogy & Local History Collection
Thanks to generous donors, the library has been able to make our collection of historic newspapers available online at no charge. You will be asked to create a free account, which will allow you to save your searches and pages for future reference. You can also print specific articles.
Instructions for printing a portion of a newspaper page:
Newspapers Online:
First time logging in you will need to enter a library card number. Type “BPL” followed by the last 4 digits of your library card number. Log in with your existing username/password or create an account.
Please call the library to set up an account for a library card number or if you have any questions. 785-527-5305
Historic Republic County Newspapers Online
See our collection of Republic County Historic Farm Photos at this link:
Republic County Historic Farm Photos
(If you would like to share photos of agriculture in Republic County before 1978 to add to our collection, please contact the library.)
We invite you to visit our library to spend as much time as you like using our collection. If you are unable to visit in person, we do genealogy research for a nominal fee of $8.00 per half hour of staff time and a fee of 25¢ per copy. We also ask for a self addressed, stamped envelope to be included. We will not mail research information out until fees are paid.
Charges will apply for work done, even if we are not able to find the requested information. Please do not send any payment until all research has been completed and you have been notified. We ask for your patience as our research is done as time permits. This could be a day or this could be two months, since serving our local library patrons has to be our first priority.
Requests may be mailed to:
Belleville Public Library
1327 19th Street
Belleville, Kansas 66935
Or e-mailed to:
belleville.staff@gmail.com
Following are some links you may find helpful:
1901 History of Republic County, Kansas
American Last Names
Ancestry.com (Free Access for Kansas Residents Only)
Belleville Public Library Historic Newspaper Archive
Courtland Journal Online
Cyndi’s List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet
History at Home: a Guide to Genealogy
Kansas Digital Newspapers
Kansas Memory
Kansas State Historical Society
Republic County Genealogy Links
Roots Web
StoryCorps
The History Project
US GenWeb Project
USA.gov