The following is a list of all newspapers in the Wisconsin Rapids area (Wisconsin Rapids, Nekoosa, Pittsville and Vesper) for which copies have survived to the present. McMillan's microfilm holdings are noted. Within the date ranges shown below for surviving local newspapers, individual issues may be missing.

1. Wood County Reporter:
1a. Wood County Reporter (published weekly or semiweekly, 1857-1923) (have 2/17/1858 to 11/1/1923, most 1865 to 1870 issues missing)
1b. Daily Reporter (published daily, 1906-1917,  (have 1906-1909, 1911-1917)

2. Centralia Enterprise:
--Centralia Enterprise (published weekly, 1879-1887) (have circa 5/21/1879 to 5/26/1887)
(some early issues on a roll labeled "Wisconsin Miscellaneous Papers")
(merged with Grand Rapids Tribune to form Centralia Enterprise & Tribune)

3. Grand Rapids-Centralia-Grand Rapids Tribune
--Grand Rapids Tribune (published weekly, 1873-1887) (have 8/30/1873 to 5/28/1887)
(merged with Centralia Enterprise to form Centralia Enterprise & Tribune)
--Centralia Enterprise & Tribune (published weekly, 1887-1900) (have 6/4/1887 to 4/14/1900)
(changed name to Grand Rapids Tribune when Grand Rapids and Centralia merged)
--Grand Rapids Tribune (published weekly, 1900-1920) (have 4/21/1900 to 2/26/1920)

4. Wisconsin Valley Leader-Daily Leader-Grand Rapids Leader-Daily Tribune
4a. Wisconsin Valley Leader (published weekly, 1902-1920?) (have 3/6/1902 to 2/21/1918)
4b. Daily Leader (published daily, 1914-1919) (have 5/25/1914 to 10/15/1919)
(changed name to Grand Rapids Leader)
--Grand Rapids Leader (published daily, 1919-1920) (have 10/16/1919 to 2/28/1920)
(changed name to Grand Rapids Daily Tribune) 
--Grand Rapids Daily Tribune (published daily, 1920) (have 3/1/1920 to 8/4/1920)
(under banner title Grand Rapids Tribune from 3/1/1920 to 3/20/1920)
(changed name to Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune)
--Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune (published daily, 1920-present) (have 8/5/1920 to present)

5. Yellow River Pilot-Pittsville Times-Wood County Times-Nekoosa Tribune:
--Yellow River Pilot (Pittsville, WI) (published weekly 1895-1903) (have 11/5/1897 to 2/27/1903)
--Pittsville Wisconsin Times and the Yellow River Pilot (published weekly 1903-1904) (have 3/6/1903 to 2/11/1904)
--Pittsville Times and the Yellow River Pilot (published weekly 1904-1905) (have 2/18/1904 to 9/1/1905)
--Wood County Times and the Yellow River Pilot (Nekoosa, WI) (published weekly 1905-1908) (have 9/7/1905 to 12/31/1908)
--Wood County Times (Nekoosa, WI) (published weekly 1909-1915) (have 1/7/1909 to 12/30/1915)
--Nekoosa Tribune (Nekoosa, WI) (published weekly 1916-1922) (have 1/13/1916 to 3/16/1922)

6. Other Nekoosa newspapers:
--Nekoosa-Port Edwards News (Nekoosa, WI) (published weekly, 1938-?) (have 9/15/1938, 10/20/1938, 11/23/1938 issues)
--Nekoosa-Port Edwards Weekly News (Nekoosa, WI) (published weekly, 1976-?) (have 3/25/1976 to 10/7/1976)

7. Pittsville Record:
--Pittsville Record (published weekly 1909-present) (have 8/19/1909 to 12/26/1996)

8. Vesper newspapers:
8a. Vesper State Center (published weekly 1911-1964) (have 10/11/1911 to 7/16/1964)
8b. Vesper Pioneer (published weekly 1911-1919?) (have 12/13/1912, 5/14/1913, 11/27/1914 issues)

If you are unable to visit McMillan, the State Historical Society of Wisconsin also owns these items and makes them available for interlibrary loan. Check with your local public library.

Local History On-Line
McMillan Library hosts dozens of web based documents, including the Tom Taylor books, city directories, lists, indexes and pictorial and historical works. Most of these were originally in print, but have been converted to electronic format. Some web-published items, such as the Tom Taylor books, come from McMillan's collection, while others have been donated by local genealogists. 

Wisconsin Valley Leader. To assist genealogists, McMillan Memorial Library and local genealogist Barbara Johnson have compiled an index to birth, marriage and death notices published in the Wisconsin Valley Leader from 1902 to 1906.

An index to pre-1907 births, marriages and death notices published in other south Wood County area newspapers, compiled by the Heart O' Wisconsin Genealogical Society, is available at the Library. Lookups in this index may be made by sending an inquiry to the Ask McMillan e-mail reference service or by contacting the Society. Requests for copies of articles must be made by mail with an enclosed SASE.

A cemetery index compiled mostly in the 1970s and 1980s is also available. It covers sixty-eight cemeteries in Wood County and St. Joseph's Lutheran (Kellner) in Portage County. Maps and directions are available on-line. It is available in card file format only. Lookups in this index may be made through the Ask McMillan e-mail reference service or by contacting the Heart O' Wisconsin Genealogical Society. Submit requests to the Library for copies of inscriptions by mail with an enclosed SASE.

Several other indexes, compiled by the Heart O'Wisconsin Genealogical Society or by individuals, are available at the Library, including:
-Wood County declarations of intent (to become a U.S. citizen), 1872-1921
-Bride and Groom indexes to marriages recorded by the Wood County Register of Deeds, 1867-1941
-A collection of "Miscellaneous Indexes from Sources in Wood County" including indexes to:
--1850 U.S. Census, Portage County (WI), Town of Grand Rapids
--1850/1860/1870 U.S. Census, Wood County (WI), Mortality Schedules
--Confirmation Classes 1868-1924, Lutheran Church of Arkdale, Strongs Prairie Township, Adams County, WI
--Wood County Death Records, Volume 1, 1877-1897
--1956 Wood County Centennial Edition, published by Wisconsin Rapids Tribune and Marshfield News Herald
--Enrollment for Wood County, WI Civil War soldiers (1863), Civil War pensioners in Wood County, WI (1883), and veterans residing in Wood County, WI (1885) extracted from local newspapers
--Wood County, WI enumeration of soldiers and sailors extracted from 1885 and 1895 Wisconsin State Censuses
--Civil War and Spanish-American War veterans buried in Forest Hill and Calvary cemeteries, Wisconsin Rapids, WI
--Tax sales and sales of forfeited lands published in two 1858 issues of the Wood County Reporter
--Plat maps/atlases published in 1878, ca. 1896 (also referred to as 1884, 1890, or 1892), and 1909
--Every-name index to Robert S. Rudolph's Wood County Place Names

The Library owns microfilm covering the entire state of Wisconsin for the years 1840 (territorial), 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, the tiny part that survives of the 1890 census, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930.  Wood County was not formed until 1856. In the 1820 and 1830 censuses, present-day Wood County was part of Crawford County; in 1840, territory east and south of the Wisconsin River was part of Brown County, with the rest in Crawford County; in the 1850 census, present-day Wood County was part of Portage County.

Two manuscripts of the 1850, 1860 and 1870 censuses, one in possession of the National Archives (NARA) and one in possession of the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS), formerly known as the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, have survived. This is mainly significant to researchers for two reasons:

1. Though both manuscripts have the same information, because they are in different handwritings, because the manuscripts' condition may vary from page to page, and because microfilming quality may vary from page to page, information may be obtainable from one, both, or neither manuscript.
2. While only Population Schedules survived in the NARA manuscript, other schedules did survive in the WHS manuscript for some counties, most notably Mortality Schedules (that enumerated persons who died twelve months prior to the census date), Agricultural Schedules (that enumerated data such as acreage in specific crops and head of livestock for specific farmers), and Industrial Schedules (that included information about self-employed businesses, not just large enterprises).

For 1850, 1860 and 1870, the Library owns microfilm of the federal census for the following Wisconsin counties:

1850: --NARA manuscript: all counties --WHS manuscript: Adams, Brown, Calumet, Chippewa, Columbia, Crawford, Kenosha, Lafayette, Lapointe, Manitowoc, Marathon, Marquette, Portage, Richland, Racine, Rock
1860: --NARA manuscript: all counties --WHS manuscript: Adams, Ashland, Bad Ax, Manitowoc, Marathon, Marquette, Portage, Richland, Racine, Waushara, Winnebago, Wood 
1870: --NARA manuscript: all counties --WHS manuscript: Adams, Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Brown, Manitowoc, Marathon, Marquette, Portage, Polk, Pierce, Winnebago, Wood

The Library also owns microfilm of the Mortality Schedules for the 1880 federal census of Wisconsin.

Indexes to the United States Federal Census for Wisconsin

The Library owns a microfilm index for the 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, and 1870 U.S. federal censuses of Wisconsin. Note that the page references in this index for 1850, 1860 and 1870 are to the WHS manuscript, which is paginated differently from the NARA manuscript.

Wisconsin State Census

• Territorial: --1836, 1838, 1842, 1846, 1847
• State: --1855, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905

The 1905 census was the only Wisconsin state census that fully enumerated all persons, not only heads of household.

Other Microfilm Resources

Wood County Naturalizations: Information from 1874 to 1991, microfilmed by the LDS Church and WHS, is at the Library on 14 microfilms. While searching the films is an involved process, finding aids include partial indexes microfilmed with the records themselves, and Wood County Wisconsin Index to Declarations of Intent 1872-1921, compiled by the Heart O'Wisconsin Genealogical Society, of which the Library has a print copy.

School Attendance Registers and Other Records Kept at the Thomas A. Lenk Educational Center (Wisconsin Rapids School District), microfilmed by the LDS Church, is at the Library on 14 microfilms.

Sanborn Maps (Fire Insurance Maps) for Merrill and Wisconsin Rapids (formerly Grand Rapids and Centralia - some maps include Biron and Nekoosa) are on a single microfilm.

Several indexes and genealogical lists, of which the Library has print copies, that were compiled by the Heart O' Wisconsin Genealogical Society and have been microfilmed by the LDS Church, are on 16 microfilms at the Library, identified with LDS' FHLC (Family History Library Catalog) film number.

Books and Compilations Online and in Print

Many local history titles are available at the Library, some of them as part of our Local History On-Line collection. Our catalog is available on-line.

City & County Directories, Phone Directories, Plat Books/Atlases
1892 (Grand Rapids & Centralia), 1905-06, 1911-12, 1913-14, 1921, 1930, 1930 Wood County Farm Directory, 1933, 1935, 1937, 1940 Wood County Farm Directory, 1941, 1955, 1957,  1965 Wood County Farm Directory, then regularly published from early 1960s to present

Wood County Telephone Company Phone Directories covering Wisconsin Rapids, Biron, Port Edwards, Rudolph and Nekoosa, 1899-present

Plat Maps & Atlases, 1878 (index at Library), ca. 1896 (also referred to as 1884, 1890, or 1892) (index at Library), 1909 (index at Library), 1921, 1928 (index), 1956, regularly published from late 1960s to present.

Governmental Directories
Directory of Public Officials Wood County, Wis./Wood County Official Directory, 1957-present
Directory of City Officials, Boards and Commissions, City of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, 1972-present
Annual School Directory/School Directory of Wood County/Directory of Wood County Schools, 1955-56 to 1958-59

School Yearbooks
Lincoln High School (Wisconsin Rapids) Ahdawagam, 1912-present. (index - off-site)
West Junior High School (Wisconsin Rapids), 1972-present
East Junior High School (Wisconsin Rapids) Eagle, 1980-present
Assumption High School (Wisconsin Rapids) Profile, 1955 - present (missing 1967, 1969, 1987). (index - off-site)
Alexander High School (Nekoosa) Moccasin, scattered holdings, 1925-1962
John Edwards High School (Port Edwards) Papyrus, 1937-1938

In addition, The Museum of the South Wood County Historical Corporation has 14 issues of the Icarian, the yearbook of Rudolph High School, from 1943 to 1962.

Local Histories and Manuscript Collections
History of Wood County, Wisconsin compiled by George O. Jones, Norman S. McVean and others. 1923, 1930. An index is available in print at the Library.

Copies of the following compilations by the Heart O'Wisconsin Genealogical Society are at the library:
-Histories and Directories of Wood County, WI Churches, 17 volumes
-Histories of Wood County, WI Communities, 3 volumes
-Histories of Wood County, WI Public Schools, 4 volumes
-School History Project, Wood County, WI, 3 volumes
-Survey of Wood County, WI Governmental Records, 6 volumes
-Copies of Wood County, WI Governmental Records, 4 volumes
Note that many of these collections are not indexed and need to be used in-person at the Library.

Online Genealogy Databases

Access NewspaperARCHIVE contains tens of millions of searchable newspaper pages, dating as far back as the 1700s. Coverage can be spotty. Searches can be limited by newspaper, city or state. Can also be accessed from home with a valid McMillan or South Central area library card.

HeritageQuest Online provides access to census data, local histories, tax rolls, cemetery lists, military rosters, and more. Can also be accessed from home with a valid McMillan or South Central area library card.

AncestryPlus provides access to more than 4,000 databases, including census data, passenger lists, the Social Security Death Index, and much more. Available for in-library use only.

Heart O' Wisconsin Genealogical Society  
Has surveys of church, courthouse and cemetery records for Wood County (Wis.). They take requests.

A History of Cranberry Growing
Provided by the Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers.

Wisconsin GenWeb for Wood County
RootsWeb's listing for Wood County, including records and names of local researchers.

Wood County Courthouse
They have no on-line files at this time, but their web site includes contact information. They have prepared Guidelines for obtaining vital record information from the Wood County (WI) Courthouse.