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3512 Darrow Road
Stow, OH 44224
Phone: (330) 688-3295
Fax: (330) 688-0448
Local History
Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library

Using the Local History Room

  The archives of the Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library are housed in the Local History Room on the library's first floor. Patrons are welcome to browse in the Local History Room, but items in the archives may not leave the room. Archived materials may, in many cases, be photocopied. 
The room is staffed by a team of 12 to 14 volunteers, and is open 22 hours a week. Currently, the room is open to the public at the following times:
  • Mondays through Thursdays, 1-4 p.m. and 6-8:30 p.m.
Hours may vary somewhat due to volunteers' availability. Anyone interested in browsing or researching is invited to visit during these times. We also welcome students looking for material for school assignments. Genealogists may research their ancestors here; however, the library staff does not perform genealogical research. Simple questions of local history may be answered over the telephone.

Group visits such as school classes or scouts are welcome. A free Cub Scout local history program is available.  The room will seat about a dozen people. Appointments should be made at least one month in advance. Call Beth Daugherty at the Information Desk, (330) 688-3295.

Special appointments may be made for unusual circumstances. Researchers are advised to call the library first at (330) 688-3295 before traveling a distance.
  


The Local History Room is on the ground floor of the library, along the east wall. When you enter the library, turn immediately to your left and move through the magazine section to the Local History Room.

Resources in the Local History Room

Here is what you can find in the Local History Room:

  • City directories, 1940-present. Trace the growth of Stow and Munroe Falls from the time when the phone book was only a pamphlet. Locate people, streets and addresses.

  • City, library and school board minutes and ordinances for the last few decades.

  • Clippings and pamphlets file. Newspaper articles from the 1960's to the present, with a few older ones. Subjects are all indexed in Library's catalog. They cover our Munroe Falls and Stow, and also Akron, Summit County, Cleveland and Ohio. An extensive separate "Biography" section contains thousands of photocopies of obituaries and news stories of Stow residents.

  • Community Church News, complete bound set, 1934-1949, fully indexed. This is a unique collection of illustrated weekly newsletters, concerning virtually everything that was happening in Stow Township during the depression and World War II. Not only about church members -- just about everybody got their names into these. Few complete collections exist anywhere else.

  • High School Yearbooks (the Stoanno), 1951-present, including alumni directories covering all years. Both Munroe Falls and Stow students are included.

  • Stow Township and village trustees ledger books, handwritten minutes of meetings, 1884-1961.

  • Genealogical Helper magazine.

  • History books about Ohio, Summit County, Akron, Stow and Munroe Falls. Every history of the two cities is here; several are unpublished manuscripts. They range from The Bronson Book, written in 1874, to Memories of Stow, published in 1998.

  • Information on Joshua Stow, including transcripts of his two libel trials, and some family genealogy.

  • Digitized images of Stow School District records from 1830 through 1855, with a table of contents and a list of names of those people mentioned in the records.

  • Maps of several types, and atlases, from many different years.

  • Photographs of school classes, groups and individuals.

  • Original documents for some individuals, such as birth, baptismal, graduation and marriage certificates.

  • Oral histories (interviews) from some prominent citizens, mostly from 1974. Most are transcribed as well. Slides of the individuals and their homes were taken at the same time. Click for the list of interviews.

  • Personal computer with internet access and MS Word.
  • Special Collections donated by area groups, families and individuals. There are many scrapbooks and photographs, histories, diaries and even some daguerreotypes. Click for the list of special collections.

  • Stow Sentry, local weekly newspaper, 1970-present. The library keeps the whole run, on microfilm and in original hardcopies. (There is no formal index.)

  • U. S. censuses for Summit County (and early Portage County), all available years (1790-1920 on microfilm).



















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