Please be aware that our staff person assigned to local history has resigned. Help in the history room and requests for information will likely be backlogged/unavailable as a result of the hiring and training process.

Local History Room at the Kaukauna Public Library

The Kaukauna Public Library facilitates the preservation of Kaukauna area history within the Local History Room to make materials available to researchers, exhibition and the general public. The Library holds these materials in trust for future generations, and therefore, materials can only be used in the Library. Materials pertaining directly to Kaukauna are collected comprehensively and in multiple formats, in particular but not limited to documents, maps, books, newspapers, and photographs.

Using the Local History Room - Inquiries & Request for Information

In Person
The history room is open during Library operating hours. Please sign-in at the service desk to use the room. The Local History Room can be reserved for research in advance or may be booked for Library programming, so please call ahead to confirm that the room will be available for use prior to your visit. If you will need the assistance of Library staff for your research, you must make an appointment due to limited staff.

For questions about the collection, to confirm availability, or to make an appointment, please call (920) 766-6340.  Please be as specific as possible regarding your inquiry and come with information you have already gathered. We recommend making an appointment as well when considering making a donation to our collection.

Online Request for Information
Would you like us to look for something for you? To request information, please fill out our Local History request form. We will do our best to find the information you are looking for. We can put materials aside for you to pick up at the library or we can scan in the requested research we have found and email it to you.

Local History Information available Online

The following local history resources are all available online.

Kaukauna Timeline

A Brief History of Kaukauna

Meaning of the name "Kaukauna"

The origin of the Kaukauna High School mascot, the “Galloping Ghost”​

 

Obituaries from the Kaukauna Times

Cemetery Headstone Photographs

Photo Gallery - Contains over 5,000 historical photos from around the Kaukauna area.

 

Kaukauna City Directories 

Kaukauna Telephone Directories 

Military Letter Index. WW1 & WW2.​

 

Mayors of Kaukauna

Kaukauna Public Library board members 1899 - Present

Kaukauna Public Library directors 1899 - Present

 

Lyle Hansen's Time Machine

Kaukuana Memory Project

The Kaukauna Memory Project exists to increase access to and awareness of local history resources housed at the Kaukauna Public Library in Kaukauna, Wisconsin. Currently digitized. The collection currently includes:

• Early History of Kaukauna
• Faces of Kaukauna
• Grand Army of the Republic Membership Roll 1861-1933
• Kaukauna School Graduation Programs 1895-1913
• World War I Military Letters
• History of the Streets of Kaukauna
• Industrial Kaukauna
• Kaukauna 175th Jubilee Album
• Kaukauna Postcard Collection
• Tom McGinnis Art 
• Riverview Sanatorium/Dr. John Russo
• Kaukauna Marriage Licenses

Kaukauna Newspaper Index

The Kaukauna Newspaper Index contains references to a selective list of articles appearing in various Kaukauna newspapers. Indexing begins in 1880 and continues to the present, though coverage in years before 1980 is not comprehensive. The index is maintained by Kaukauna Public Library staff & volunteers and is updated regularly.