John Hetebrink House, Fullerton, California, circa 1914

Fullerton Public Library

John Hetebrink House, Fullerton, California, today

Finding the History of Your Home

Angela Hanshaw | October 25, 2011

I live in a rehabbed condo in a building that’s about one hundred years old, and I’ve often wondered about who had lived there in the past, what the inside of the building looked like when it was first built, and how the building has changed over the years. If my home was in Fullerton, California, I likely would have been able to find much of that out at the House History Workshop the Fullterton Public Library offered on Saturday.

Designed to highlight the library’s local history collection, the workshop taught participants how to use the collections’s historic materials, photographs, and personal records that date back to 1887, when Fullerton was founded. Attendees had access to phone directories from 1889 onward, the local newspaper on microfilm dating from 1893, historic building surveys, and early Sanborn maps. They also learned about online resources they could access through the library’s website and catalog.

The program also ties in with Fullerton Public Library’s annual Fullerton Reads program. Featuring the theme “All History Is Local,” this year’s community read focuses on the book Orange County: A Personal History by Gustavo Arellano, managing editor of the Orange County Weekly and author of the newspaper column “Ask a Mexican.” For more information on the program, visit the Fullterton Reads website.

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Angela Hanshaw is Program Officer/Web Editor for the ALA Public Programs Office.

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