Remember the old TripTik Travel Planners offered by AAA? When you were planning a trip, you’d contact AAA and ask for a customized TripTik and a little flip-booklet of all the roads, attractions, lodging and eats was furnished to you. It became the “bible” for your trip. 

I propose to you today that a Locality Guide for your genealogy research is parallel to the old TripTik. When you’re “going to” (researching) in a particular place, don’t you want to know the roads and places there?????  And, F.Y.I., creating a Locality Guide is  part of many how-to genealogical study courses. 

So. What to include in a Locality Guide? For imaginary visual impact, picture creating a Locality Guide for  Washington State or even better, a Washington State county. Here might be the chapters to include:

• Historical Background & Geography
• Local & County Government Agencies
• State or Provincial Government
• Laws
• Archives, Libraries, Museums, Historical Societies
• Historical Context Materials
• Research Guides
• Genealogy societies & Social Media
• Census Records
• Government Vital Records
• Maps & Gazetteers
• City Directories
• Newspapers
• Cemeteries & Funeral Homes & Onsite Grave Locators
• Religious Records
• Probate Records
• Local Land Records
• Federal Land Records
• Tax Records
• Immigration & Naturalization Records
• Military Records

Imagine searching out and then compiling all that information for your target research place!  Seems to me, it would just about guarantee success in your search. 

Robyn M. Smith on her website, Reclaiming Kin, describes what a Locality Guide is: “It’s a document you create that contains key snippets of information relevant to genealogical research in a specific locale. The idea is to have one central guide that you can refer to time and time again when you are researching that place.” I agree!