Lake County Historical Resources | Lake County Historical Society

Lake County Historical Resources

This page describes Lake County’s historical resources which are located in various collections around the county. No single repository owns “all” of Lake County’s historical information, and researchers might not know what is available where. The sections below will describe briefly what is in each collection, where the collection is located, and how to contact the agency or organization that owns it. (Special thanks to Pomo Bulletin editor Jan Cook for compiling this list!)

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Microfilmed Lake County newspapers in Lake County Library collection

Collection Details

Lake County newspapers, microfilmed and filed at the Lake County Library, hold the foundations of many Lake County history stories. The collection contains newspapers that cover nearly all of Lake County’s existence, but there is no complete run of all issues of all newspapers published in Lake County. See the list below for details. Much of the early microfilming was done by the California State Library, and the Lake County library now routinely microfilms all Lake County newspapers.

Lakeport Library houses most of the microfilmed newspapers. Redbud Library in Clearlake has a smaller collection than Lakeport does, but Lakeport Library will loan its films for use at Redbud.

Each library has a microfilm reader-printer machine. These high-tech machines combine reader-printers with computers that allow direct printing, scanning and saving images and e-mailing images.

Lakeport’s machine is available on a first-come, first-served basis, while at Redbud the machine must be reserved. Call the libraries for more information.

California Indian Library Collections in Lake County Library

Collection Details

The University of California collected thousands of documents, photographs and audio tapes on California’s tribes to create the California Indian Library Collection. In the late 1980s copies of these materials were placed into county libraries throughout California to put the information close to the tribal locations.

Lake County received materials on the Huchnom, Lake Miwok, Patwin, Pomo/Kashaya Pomo, Wappo and Yuki history and culture, as all of these tribes had been in what is now Lake County, although the extent of their presence may have been very small.

All of the Lake County documents, photographs and tapes are housed at Lakeport Library and are library-use only.

Space prevents printing extensive background on the CILC here, so interested readers can learn more about the history of this project can be found at www.mip.berkeley.edu/cilc/bibs/preface.html

Miscellaneous government-generated documents in the Lake County Library

Collection Details

Census microfilms

Federal Census. 1860, Clear Lake Township of Napa County

Federal Census. 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 Lake

County. [most of the US 1890 census burned.]

Microfilms, other.

US National Archives. M756. Assessment Lists for CA. Sonoma,

Marin, Napa, Lake & Mendocino 1862 – 1866

Board of Supervisors. Proceedings. Lake County; February 6,

1905 – July 9, 1918

Great Register of Voters. Lake County. 1900 – 1944