Sources

The sources used for the research portion of this website are primarily web-based. All of the official OTW Neighborhood Association documents and newsletters were scanned from the original print documents and converted to OCR PDFs. These documents were in the possession of Linda Muldoon and Bill Anderson and many thanks go to them for sharing this archive including news articles, publications, city and county documents, art work, personal reminiscences, images and copious other documents

Access Newspaper Archive

Access Newspaper Archive is a subscription database of PDFs of newspapers. These date from 1607 to 2010. Coverage is world-wide but spotty. A single title may consist of one to a dozen pages. The Appleton coverage includes the Daily Post (1920 only), the Motor (1859-1876) and the Post Crescent (1853-1876.) These ranges do not include all issues. For example, the Post Crescent contains no images from 1867 to 1919 and not all issues from the remaining years are complete.
This database is available, free of charge, to all Wisconsin residents via BadgerLink.

ancestry.com
A subscription-based service primarily for family history research. The Appleton Public Library subscribes to the Ancestry Library Edition and it is available to the public in the library building.

In addition to all available population census records and many birth, death and marriage records, ancestry.com has digitized many Appleton city directories going back to 1884 through, in some cases, the late 20th century. These directories are searchable by street address and are most helpful in obtaining names of people who lived in these homes. Military and land records area also available.

The Appleton Public Library' Appleton History Collection, Karen Probst, librarian*

This collection includes many digital databases. Materials used for this website were found at Fox Valley Memory, the InfoSoup Memory Project, the Appleton Public Library Local History Collection accessed via the State of Wisconsin portion of the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections.
Of particular help were the following:

*Diana Sandberg is now (2015) the local history libraran at the Appleton Public Library

FamilySearch

FamilySearch is a database created by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The church's "commitment to helping people connect with their ancestors" resulted in its members traveling the world and preserving genealogical records. This searchable site is freely available. Free registration is required to view some original documents.

History Museum at the Castle, Matthew J. Carpenter, Executive Director, Nicholas J. Hoffman, Chief Curator

The museum's research collection includes building permit records from the 1920's which were consulted for this website. There is also a collection of historic photos.

Internet Archive

"The Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general public." This archive contains digitized books about Appleton, Outagamie County and the Fox River. Texts can be viewed online in several formats, printed and downloaded.
Texts consulted:

Wisconsin Genealogy Index via the Wisconsin Historical Society.

"Search for pre-1907 Vital Records (VR), including birth, death, and marriage records as well as for 150,000 Wisconsin Name Index (WNI) records, including biographical sketches, obituaries, and newspaper articles published before 2000." These are not the original records, only skeletal information. Copies of the original documents may be ordered for a fee or viewed and printed at the Society's Library and Archives in Madison, Wisconsin. However, those who register with the FamilySearch site may view the full record information there at no cost.

Links updated 5/13/2015