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Fort Wayne, Indiana
Books
Most of the historical online ebooks on our site are found searching the internet for books at Archive.org as they offer an easy ability to embed flip books on our pages. We are finding some books on HathiTrust.org a partnership of academic and research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world. Google eBook are used too although they are often easier to use when found on the other sites. The Online Books Page listing over 3 million free books on the Web at UPENN.edu is a useful site for finding links to ebooks on various topics usually on the previously listed sites. Project Gutenberg with 60,000 older books off copyright can also be useful.
Most of the Fort Wayne, Allen County ebooks are digitized from the collection of
The Genealogy Center at the
Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We have a video on our Library page that shows how they digitize the books. How to find the ebooks on the library online card catalog is shown in their video below:
Interested in researching your family history? Learn how genealogist Taneya Y. Koonce uses the Internet Archive's vast collections of digitized yearbooks, newspapers, location histories & government records to piece together her family’s story:
Posted May 17, 2022 by Randy Harter, Fort Wayne historian and author on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook Several of you (as well as myself) have lamented over buildings that are being razed in Fort Wayne to build something we feel is less desirable or needed at the cost of the former structure. Often we are disappointed because we have a nostalgic emotional attachment to the building or business that it once housed. And, sometimes it just appears to us that the building should be able to be rehabbed for its next use rather than leveled as the current owner or developer feels is appropriate. Other times we’re dispirited based of our perception due to our being the outsiders looking in without all the facts that only owners, contractors and developers have at hand. As recently mentioned by some of you, some buildings can’t be practically saved due to age and condition regardless of how they appear. As a longtime student of local history I among many of you have at times felt betrayed when a wonderful old building suddenly disappears. However, to impinge the reputation of those that are doing the razing and rebuilding simply due to they being able to afford to do so makes little sense as in many cases our city is fortunate to have their generous support across a wide range of meaningful local causes.
As an example of our (for better or worse) always changing skyline, recently some members of the Fort Wayne History Roundtable labeled this wonderful view taken in 1889 from the bell tower of St. Paul’s Church on Barr Street. If you’re able to read the small print you’ll see that we were only able to find two identifiable buildings in the entire view that are still standing out of the dozens in the photograph. These are the building on S. Calhoun that now house the Dash-In and its neighbor to the north that most recently housed Klinger Jewelry. As best we can tell every one of the other buildings in the photo has been razed for one reason or another, even once glorious churches. One of you paraphrased in a recent post the quote “When one door closes another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” - Alexander Graham Bell I appreciate that we are a progressive city on the move, even when the moves don’t always fit my pleasure. I hope you enjoy this 133 year old image.
Most ebooks use optical character recognition for keyword searching, but they won't find every instance of every keyword. Be sure to look for an index in the back of the books, and when all else fails, read or scan important sections of the ebooks that might contain the information you are looking for even if a keyword search does or does not find what you are looking for. Some books in the
The Genealogy Center at the
Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indianahave added manually indexed versions of these book that will have surnames the OCR does not find.
Research with Internet Archive posted Apr 12, 2020 by Allen County Public Library on YouTube While Internet Archive is known for providing free digital access to millions of types of materials, they are also digitizing and offering genealogy materials. They even have a partnership with the Allen County Public Library to digitize genealogy materials. Learn more about what is available and how to access the records. Check out Internet Archive here: https://archive.org/ Learn more at
The Genealogy Center at the
Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Some of the many available Fort Wayne ebooks are listed more or less alphabetically below:
Struggles in the old Northwest and Kentucky by the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County, 1954 on Archive.org. The Foreword says the newspaper articles were originally published in the Indianapolis Indiana Journal on June 8 and June 29, 1833.
Books About Fort Wayne
History of Fort Wayne, from the earliest known accounts of this point, to the present period. Embracing an extended view of the aboriginal tribes of the Northwest, including, more especially, the Miamies ... with a sketch of the life of General Anthony Wyane; including also a lengthy biography of ... pioneer settlers of Fort Wayne. Also an account of the manufacturing, mercantile, and railroad interests of Fort Wayne and vicinity by Brice, Wallace A, 1868 on Archive.org.
Builders of Greater Fort Wayne, A Collection of Portraits of the Men of Today Who Are Carrying on the Work of the Fathers in the Making of "The Wonder City of Midwestern America" published in 1926 by Bert J Griswold. The book has been indexed, photocopied and posted on the The Genealogy Center web site.
I had a mighty tasty conversation w/ Laura Weston & Keith Elchert about their new book, 'Classic Restaurants of Fort Wayne.' If you missed it on Zach's ME, Ben'll run it at 5:45 on ATC & for another helping of story, catch the extended version of that on-air interview later today on our website (wboi.org) or right here on the 89.1 WBOI Facebook page.
Looking for your new favorite restaurant? Look no further! Laura Weston Barnes & Noble Visit Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne Aviation: Baer Field and Beyond by Roger Myers, Geoffrey Myers, Larry Myers, and Martin Kraegel III, 2012, Arcadia Publishing ISBN: 9780738588605
Fort Wayne a Pictorial Love Story published around 2010 has old photos from 1889 to 1950 in a then and now recreated photo format on facing pages. This book is only available at the Fort Wayne History Center. There is a Fort Wayne a Pictorial Love Story Facebook page by the same name.
A 1927 Book Promoting Fort Wayne, Indiana. An indexed book called "Fort Wayne, Indiana, The City of Commerce and Industrial Opportunities"; 1927. https://willennar.catalogaccess.com/library/36583
If you're curious to know what certain places in Fort Wayne looked like in the past compared to present-day, then get yourself a copy of Fort Wayne Through Time by Randolph L. Harter and Daniel A. Baker.
Fort Wayne Through Time by Randolph L. Harter and Daniel A. Baker, 2018, Arcadia Publishing ISBN: 9781635000719: Overview states: Most of Fort Wayne's buildings and architecture from the early- to mid-1900s has been lost in the last fifty years to modern structures or parking lots. Fort Wayne Through Time reaches into the area's largest public and private image archives to compare what was and what is. Included with each of the comparative sets of images is an interesting history of the structure, company, or event. Who were the Fort Wayne Daisies? What happened to the 5,000-seat League Park? When was the courthouse constructed? Where did Anthony Wayne's statue originally sit? Why was Reservoir Park built? These and hundreds of other questions are answered in this informative journey through Fort Wayne's past. Randolph Harter is a Fort Wayne historian and author of two previous local history books. Daniel Baker is an award-winning photographer who has been documenting Northeast Indiana the past fifteen years. A long-time history buff and founder of the Fort Wayne History Roundtable, Harter was in his element in the research phase of the project. Copied from Then and now, side by side Pair goes to great heights for updates of historic photos by Rod King published January 06, 2019 in
How To Find & Use Google Books For Genealogy Research Are you overlooking this free source of genealogy ebooks? Explore how to use Google books to find thousands of free family histories!
The Lincoln Financial Collection, Books contributed from the Lincoln Financial Collection held in the Lincoln Library, Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Over 2,000 titles digitized from the collection.
Men of affairs in Fort Wayne : reprinted from the Fort Wayne sentinel, 1907, Publication date 1907 on Archive.org. 200 page book with drawings of local men. The caricatures in this Album are reprinted from the general series comprised of nearly one hundred of the leading men in mercantile, industrial and professional pursuits in Fort Wayne and published in The Sentinel under the title of “MEN OF AFFAIRS IN FORT WAYNE.” To meet a demand for the series assembled in a convenient form this album has been isued by The Sentinel. Also as Men of Affairs in Fort Wayne at
The Genealogy Center at the
Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Remembering Fort Wayne by Scott M. Bushnell, Ingram Pub Services, May 31, 2010 - 134 pages
Reminiscences of old Fort Wayne by Woodworth, Lura Case; Daughters of the American Revolution. Mary Penrose Wayne Chapter (Fort Wayne, Ind.); Fairbank, Carolyn Randall; Hanna, Martha Brandriff Publication date 1906?] has photos
Reminiscences of old Fort Wayne by Fairbank, Carolyn Randall; Woodworth, Lura Case; Hanna, Martha Brandriff; Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County Publication date 1953 - reprint lacks photos
Streets of Fort Wayne McCoy, Angus Cameron, from "a speech before the Quest Club, November 30, 1945," prepared by the staff of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County.
Treasures : the Tri-State Loan & Trust co - Tri-State Loan & Trust co. (Fort Wayne, Ind.) bound Jan 3, 1940 - listing of artworks at the bank, paintings, etchings, bronzes
Your Summer Reading by Carmen Doyle published May 21, 2014 in History Center Notes & Queries blog discusses several new history books: The Iron Men of Indiana’s 44th Regiment is two volumes. Part 1: Biographies and Regimental Statistics with mini bios and Part 2: Formation and Photos details about the company during the Civil War; Salt: A Story of Friendship in a Time of War about a Miami Indian and pioneer boy in 1812; Shopping in Fort Wayne 1848; and two cookbooks, Blue and Grey Cookery: Authentic recipes form the Civil War Years and Johnny Apppleseed Cookbook: Favorite apple recipes of our land.
