![Create a Town History Archive Website](https://cdn.slatesource.com/7/9/c/79c74697-ecd3-4c03-b448-86976179a25e.jpg)

# Create a Town History Archive Website

- [Made in Slatesource](https://slatesource.com/u/kairenner/create-a-town-history-archive-website-949)
- By [KaiRenner](https://slatesource.com/u/KaiRenner)
- History & Civilization
- Created on Mar 21, 2026

## Town History Archive Website

Build a community history archive that digitizes and preserves local records, photos, and stories. Omeka is purpose-built for this and free to use with Omeka.net hosting.

**500** Items

**5** Years

Collect the Materials

Partner with the local library, historical society, and senior center. Run a community scanning day where residents bring family photos. Accept donations of physical documents and photographs.

Digitize Everything

Scan photos at 600 DPI minimum. Use a flatbed scanner for documents. Create a consistent file naming convention before you start. Back up to two locations immediately after scanning.

Publish the Archive

Use Omeka or a WordPress site with image galleries. Add metadata to every item: date, location, people, event. Enable community comments so residents can add context to photos they recognize.

Launch Checklist

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Register a domain with the town name and history or archive

Set up Omeka.net or install Omeka S on shared hosting

Create item metadata schema before adding any items

Hold a community scanning day at the library

Add 50 items with full metadata before going public

Submit site to state historical society for linking

Write a press release for the local paper

Oral history recordings are as valuable as photographs. A simple USB microphone and Audacity can capture interviews with longtime residents. Store audio as lossless FLAC with MP3 copies for the web.

[Omeka Open Source Archiving Platform](https://omeka.org/?utm_source=slatesource)