Purpose

The Laurel County Kentucky Historical Society’s purpose was to collect and maintain as many records and as much information about Laurel County’s history and people as possible, and to make this collection available to Laurel Countians and visitors who sought it. The Society specialized in genealogical research.

Its library contained many volumes of reference materials, old photographs, and newspapers, as well as records on microfilm, microfiche, and CD-ROM. The Society also had many donated artifacts. Some were on display, while others remained in storage as the organization prepared its museum for the public.

Transcribing Laurel County records

The Society continued to transcribe and publish census, marriage, cemetery, and old newspaper records of Laurel County, along with its semiannual newsletter, Branches of Laurel. Other pages show what that purpose meant in practice. Volunteers transcribed available federal census schedules from microfilm, recorded cemetery-marker information across five geographic sections of the county, prepared marriage indexes, and created excerpts from early local newspapers.

The collection work was not limited to printed volumes. The homepage invited families to allow copies of old photographs to be made and stored, or to donate originals if they wished. The gallery page included captions for family and place photographs, while the publications page described newsletters, record books, veterans’ references, and county-history titles.

Making a collection usable

Collecting was only one part of the stated purpose. The material was intended to be available for research. The services page asked researchers to share specific questions, enough identifying information to guide a search, and a list of sources already checked. That practical request connected preservation with access: records become more useful when they are organized, cited, and searched with a clear question.

The historic purpose statement describes the organization’s work, but this independent reference does not claim custody of the Society’s library, artifacts, or publications.