Book on Local History by Arrowhead Library System Director

Collection development suggestion for south-central Wisconsin libraries.

Link to September 2 Janesville Gazette article, "Images of Evansville: Montgomery puts history of Rock County city on display".

Excerpt: The history of Evansville unfolds throughout the pages of a new book by local historian Ruth Ann Montgomery.

The photos and captions tell stories of everything from Dr. John M. Evans—after whom the city was named—to the Rock County Fair, which was held in Evansville from 1899 to 1927.

“I really hope that it will start conversations about those stories that people remember about these places and people, that they will pass those stories on to others in the community that may not be as familiar with Evansville history,” Montgomery said.

“There’s a lot of stories that can’t be told in a book of that size.”

Montgomery, a native of Richland Center, has long been a wealth of knowledge when it comes to Evansville’s history. Her latest project is available for purchase Monday: the “Evansville” edition in the “Images of America” series.

The 128-page book from Arcadia Publishing features more than 200 photographs captioned by Montgomery. Many of the photos came from Montgomery’s own collection of about five albums of photos and postcards that she’s collected over the years at auctions, on eBay and from people who gave them to her.