Well, we’ve reached state #50, which also happens to have become our 50th state – the gorgeous state of Hawaii.
As you can imagine, since the peak of county histories was in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, long before Hawaii’s statehood in 1959, there is little in the way of digitized histories.
FAQ
1. While every county in the state is listed, links are only provided for titles that no longer fall under U.S. copyright laws. All (almost) links connect to free websites.
2. There are a few instances when a book has been digitized, but is only found on a paid site. In that case, no link is inserted, but a note as to the website where it has been found is given.
3. When a state history has also been found in digital format, it is listed in the STATE section that precedes the county list. I have limited STATE entries to those with county histories/biographical volumes in them.
4. There are a number of counties that DO have histories written, BUT they remain copyrighted material. Therefore, if a county has NONE after its name, it doesn’t mean there is no county history, just that none has been digitized. It’s also possible that the only digitized county history is included in one of the state volumes, so be sure to check those entries.
5. If the book is on FamilySearch, you will need a free account to access it. This list does NOT include town histories.
6. When all fifty states have been completed, I will post a PDF of them all.
7. One last note – it is very possible that a book is digitally available on more than one website. I’ve only included links to one site per book.
HAWAII
STATE – The pilgrims of Hawaii: their own story of their pilgrimage from New England and life work in the Sandwich Islands now known as Hawaii, Orramel Hinckley Gulick & Ann Eliza Clark Gulick, Fleming H. Revell Company, New York, 1918.
STATE – Men of Hawaii: being a biographical reference library, complete, John William Siddall, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Ltd., 1921.
HAWAII – NONE
HONOLULU – Experience of a medical student in Honolulu and on the island of Oahu, 1881, Lloyd Vernon Briggs, David D. Nickerson, Boston, 1926. [FamilySearch Film 1321394, Item 8]
KALAWAO – NONE
KAUAI – NONE
MAUI – Hawaiian homesteading on Molokai, 1877-1896, Felix Maxwell Keesing, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, 1936. [FamilySearch Film 1011807]
There you have it. Lnks to all 50 states’ worth of county histories can be found under the COUNTY HISTORIES tab under the header photo above.
I’ll be sharing my experiences about this 2 month project very soon. I learned a lot about history and geography.