Local History at the Buchanan District Library

(Full Access Tuesdays 12-6 and by appointment)

The Buchanan District Library Local History Room (LHR) endeavors to preserve, maintain and make accessible the history of the Buchanan area. The LHR strives to present the history of Buchanan’s social, governmental and business circles through our collections of books, photographs, maps, ledgers, diaries, club and personal collections. The LHR invites you not only to peruse our holdings but to consider donating your family photographs, books, diaries, artifacts and ephemera to our permanent collection.

The LHR is under the direct supervision of Mr. John Urschel.  Mr. Urschel is a semi-retired contract archivist. He has a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in public history from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. His past full time employment has included the Montgomery County, Ohio (Dayton) Common Pleas Court, South Bend and St. Joseph County, Indiana, and most recently the City of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Mr. Urschel has lectured and consulted on computer solutions to records management and archives in local governments and has presented numerous overviews of local history and archives to service and social organizations throughout Michigan and Indiana. Mr. Urschel has written three books and produced a documentary film on the history of Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The LHR invites you to peruse the contents of a few of our collections:

Local Government Records

Buchanan History

Civil War

Genealogical Resources

Directories

Education in Buchanan (includes yearbooks)

Berrien County Record Register