Where do I go to find out the history of my local town/area?

>>2621215
Probably local town hall or library. Historical society if your town has one.

If you don't have any success with any of those, just try talking to old people.

>>2621609
Also sometimes you can learn about your town by going to places outside of your town.

For example, I learned that my backyard was owned by James A Garfield by going to his house which is a couple towns over from where I live.

>>2621215
If you have a college/university in town, they may have a dedicated local historian. At my university we have a local historian, and he guided me to write a paper about how the Korean War impacted the local economy.

A lot of mainstreet USA type towns have historical societies where you can go see Old Man Jenkin's rocking chair and shit.

>>2624094
And if not a dedicated local historian, they're still likely to have a Special Collections and Archive for local stuff. They usually have special displays on local history and may let you have access to the primary sources in their possession.