If you live in the area or plan to visit in the SHENANDOAH VALLEY this summer, you are cordially invited to research in the Archives of the Handley Regional Library in Winchester. It is a public library and archives that serves Winchester, Frederick County and Clarke County, VA. Recognized as one of the best research centers in the region, Handley is located at the corner of Braddock and Picadilly Streets, and it is open on Tuesday and Wednesday from 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and on Thursday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (closed on Sunday and Monday). What is in the collection? Materials on people, places and events of the Lower Shenandoah Valley from 1732 to present. The collection houses archival material from both the Handley Library and the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society. There are extensive local histories and genealogical books on families who live or have lived in this area. A Surname Index lists individual families who are named in over 200 genealogical books in the collection. This saves a lot of research time from not having to scan manually through indexes of several hundred books. Also, there is a database of names and addresses of individual researchers by surname. Over 500 linear feet of manuscripts and ephemera are housed in the Archives. These holdings include account books, funeral home records, diaries, and correspondence. The Archives maintains an excellent collection of 100 maps (some rare), including three maps of the area by Jedediah Hotchkiss, Stonewall Jackson's mapmaker, plus 4,000 photographs. If you are interested in the Civil War, you will find plenty information. U.S. Census records are maintained for Counties in the Lower Shenandoah Valley, from 1790-1920. Indexes for Virginia and West Virginia counties enable the researcher to quickly find the people they are researching. Handley Archives has one of the best NEWSPAPER collections for a regional public library. The Winchester Star is available on microfilm beginning in 1896. These papers are important for those seeking information on deaths--obituaries-- during a period of almost 2 decades at the turn of the 20th century when death records were not collected by the Commonwealth nor the Counties. Twenty additional newspapers are available to researchers, some by microfilm and others by the original copies. These date from 1787 to present. Virginia Gazette and Winchester Advertizer 1787-1791 Virginia Centinel or Winchester Mercury 1788-1790 Winchester Political Repository 1790-1791 Willis's Gazette and the Winchester Centinel 1796 Winchester Gazette 1802-1824 The Philanthropist 1808 Republican Constellation 1810-1817 Winchester Republican (destroyed by Union in 1862) 1821-1862 Winchester Virginian (destroyed by Union in 1862) 1828-1862 Winchester Journal 1865-1869 Winchester News 1865-1869 Winchester Times 1866-1905 Winchester Sentinel 1869-1870 People's Voice 1880-1881 Winchester Leader 1884-1899 Daily Item 1896-1897 Winchester Star 1898-present Evening News Item 1896-1897 Morning News Item 1906-1907 Daily Independent 1923-1925 Also in Handley, Shenandoah County newspapers are available on microfilm for the 1817-1914 period. Archives staff will answer correspondence if the request is clearly defined. Extensive research cannot be undertaken because of limited staff time. For in-depth searches, a list of local researchers will be provided upon request. A self-addressed, stamped envelope should accompany all queries. There is a charge for photocopies. Correspondence should be addressed to: Mrs. Rebecca Ebert, Archivist The Handley Regional Library P.O. Box 58 Winchester, VA 22604 (540) 662-9041 For those doing colonial research (prior to the Revolutionary War), you are reminded that the Frederick County Courthouse in Winchester maintains records from 1743 onward. Frederick is NOT a "Burned County." If you need to do a deeper level of research in certain areas, you should be aware that many kinds of original records are maintained by the Library of Virginia in Richmond. An inventory of the Frederick County holdings is available from the LoV. As you may know, Old Frederick County consisted of 12 present-day counties, viz. Frederick, Hampshire, Berkeley, Clarke, Shenandoah, Page, Hardy, Morgan, Jefferson, Grant, Mineral and Warren. The Frederick County Court served the people in all of these counties prior to their formations. We hope that your visit to our beautiful Shenandoah Valley and Commonwealth of Virginia will be enjoyable and productive. "Virginia is for Lovers." Wilmer L. Kerns Volunteer Archivist The Handley Regional Library