Resources
Access the essential tools to help with your genealogy or local history research.
Local History & Genealogy
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Explore our books, pamphlets, clippings and other written sources that tell the story of Topeka’s unique history. You will also find photographs, prints, posters, scrapbooks and audio-visual materials that help bring this history to life. The Topeka Room houses the library’s local history collection. Our digital collection includes historical photographs and the Sherwood Smith blueprints.
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Programs & Classes
Events
Jun
18
Jun 18 | 09:00AM - 9:00PM
Moments that Made US
Outside the Topeka Room
Jun
18
Jun 18 | 10:00AM - 11:30AM
The Day the Sky Turned Black
Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, Learning Center
Jun
19
Jun 19 | 09:00AM - 9:00PM
Moments that Made US
Outside the Topeka Room
Jun
20
Jun 20 | 09:00AM - 6:00PM
Moments that Made US
Outside the Topeka Room
Jun 18 | 09:00AM - 9:00PM
Moments that Made US
Outside the Topeka Room
Jun
18
Jun 18 | 10:00AM - 11:30AM
The Day the Sky Turned Black
Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, Learning Center
Jun
19
Jun 19 | 09:00AM - 9:00PM
Moments that Made US
Outside the Topeka Room
Jun
20
Jun 20 | 09:00AM - 6:00PM
Moments that Made US
Outside the Topeka Room
Genealogy & Local History Articles
June 17, 2026 ·
The 1951 Flood: 75 years later
On July 13, 1951, the Kansas River Valley experienced one of the costliest and most devastating floods in the area's history, later called “the flood of the century.”
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