Just a little local color

In school we spend a lot of time studying the big picture of history... the explorers and the wars and those big cultural movements we consider important enough to capitalize (the Dark Ages, the Renaissance, Reformation, etc.). We study our national history (apparently not enough, given the amount of confusion over the Constitution), and usually soak up at least a little state history. But, perhaps because our teachers are tired and curriculum is unavailable, local history tends to be silent, guarded by a few museum keepers and old-timers.

One of the two original houses on my family's ranch boasts a big kitchen and three additional rooms, each with its own exterior door, or two.

For writers and history buffs, that means there may well be a treasure trove of facts and stories from which to glean inspiration, to add color and depth to eras of time otherwise overlooked in the history books, and that treasure might be closer than you think!

Another of the original houses, currently in use as a "band shed" by hubby and sons.
One of the bedroom walls, still clad in its floral wallpaper, has a bullet hole near the ceiling.

For example...

The stove in the "little red house."

1. Family history — You don't have to become a genealogist to delve into your family history these days. Websites like ancestry.com have made researching our family trees easier than ever. I learned that my great-grandfather was married to another woman before he married my great-grandmother. No one knows what happened to her, and no one in the family had ever heard of her before, but they signed a census list as husband and wife...

The barn, which is still in use for hay storage.

The bunkhouse. The original owners apparently put their
 teenage boys in it. Smart.

2. Property history — Sure, many of us live in modern houses, surrounded by even more modern houses. But what was there before? What did your street look like a hundred, or two-hundred years ago? Having moved to property that was homesteaded in the late 1800s/early 1900s, with original buildings and artifacts galore, I feel like I've walked into a living museum. 

Inside the bunkhouse, built-in table and benches.
Cast iron skillets and utensils are original.

3. Community history — Unless you live in your hometown, you might be unaware of the history your community is hiding. We are equidistant from three small towns. One suffered a dramatic train crash in the early 1900s, followed by a mine explosion that left the coal seam in the mountain burning for decades. Another sprang up around a railroad depot. A third was named for a rusty rifle found in a creek by mid-19th century explorers. Those kinds of tales are story fodder!

Anybody live in a house with a past? Or in a town that has some intriguing secrets? Have you considered using the tales of your more colorful family members in a story? Why or why not?