Clay
County Historical Society
Moorhead, Minnesota
Location
The Clay County Historical Society is located in the Hjemkomst Center, 202
1st
Avenue North, Moorhead, Minnesota.
Museum Hours: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Monday - Wednesday, Friday - Saturday
10:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m., Thursday
12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., Sunday.
The
Society can be contacted by
- Phone:
(218) 299-5520
- Fax:
(701) 237-5330
- Mail:
CCHS, Box 501, Moorhead, Minnesota 56561N
- Email: mark.peihl@ci.moorhead.mn.us
- web
site: http://www.info.co.clay.mn.us/History
Historical
Collections at the Society
The Clay County Historical Society collects both manuscript materials and
artifacts dealing with the history of the county.These collections are preserved in the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead.Some artifacts are used in the Society’s historical displays on the
lower level of the Center (the vast majority of artifacts – including
clothing, furniture, tools, household implements, and thousands of other items
– are kept in storage at the Center).
The
Society’s Research Library preserves the manuscript collections as well as one
copy of almost every published history of the county, its towns and townships,
major individuals and institutions.These,
together with the manuscript collections, may be studied at the Research Center.Manuscripts include letters and diaries of early county settlers, tax
records, some township records, and a selected number of land and business
records.
The
Society maintains microfilm sets of most of the newspapers published in the
county over the course of its history.Another
invaluable resource is the extensive files of news clippings, compiled by
Moorhead Public Library staff and organized by subject.
The
Society also has extensive photographs on file, including the Flaten/Wange
collection, prints and negatives of two early area photographers.
Genealogical
Materials at the Center
The Society’s
genealogical records include microfilm copies of census records, naturalization
records, indexes to deaths and marriages recorded in the county, a complete set
of Fargo-Moorhead city directories, World War 1 Draft Registration cards, World
War 1 Alien Registration forms, indexes to personnel records of the Great
Northern and Northern Pacific Railways andpublished family histories collected and kept in the Research Library.
The CCHS web site contains a link to genealogy information.
Services
Offered by the Center
The Center staff
will do some preliminary research for patrons who submit mail or telephone
questions, but time constraints prevent any major research by the staff.
The
Research Library has both a photocopier and a microfilm reader-copier for use in
making copies of documents.Special
arrangements can be made to have copies made of photographs.Some materials are too fragile to permit copying.A fee is charged for copies.