I hope that your Thanksgiving was pleasant with time spent with family and/or friends. Did you get your Christmas shopping completed on Black Friday or are you planning to catch up on Cyber Monday? If you are purchasing gifts for someone who enjoys the Monroe area history, I’m going to share information with you today about some great bargains that you can find locally. Of course, there might be a little bit of personal bias involved.

By the time I moved back to Monroe in 2004, I had permission from the Green County Historical Society (GCHS) board to compile a Pictorial History of Monroe, which was completed in 2006. This book contains 250 photos of Monroe with three- or four-line captions for each one. It also contains an index of every name (person and business).

After another ten years, I put another 260 photos of the Monroe area into a book called the Monroe Area Pictorial History. None of these photos were included in the first book; it is also fully captioned and indexed. Most of the photographs in this book were taken within what is now the city limits of Monroe, but there are a few pages at the end which contain photos that touch on life in the rural community. These emphasize the farming community, but also show a rural school, a cheese factory, and more.

I’ve been asked in the past few years which book I would purchase if I could only purchase one. I always replied that I’d not want to be without either of them. The first book has photos of the city schools and many of the churches with a brief history of each. More time was spent collecting photographs for the second book as well as researching the history of what is contained in them, so it may be more thorough. We are fortunate to have so many wonderful photos from such a small community, even if there isn’t one of the Court House being built!

I also put together a third picture book, A Glimpse Back in Time, in 2010 using 166 interesting photos taken by pharmacist Will E. Trukenbrod, probably between 1910 and 1920. This book is different from the others because it is more about the people of that era. Unfortunately, there are no captions printed in the book because only a couple of the people could be identified. The value of this book is being able to look at the faces of the people, what they were doing, and how they are dressed. The historical society now plans to include a list of short descriptions in the book that they sell. For those people who already own this book and don’t have the locations, these descriptions will also be listed on their website.

Now for the great news: GCHS has reduced the price of these books to $10 each, or all three for only $25. That means that you would be getting 676 photographs for less than $0.04 per photograph.

These are some of the best photographs of Monroe all in one place. You will be able to take them around town to compare to what is there now! Books can be mailed for an additional charge. Be sure to check out the GCHS website for more information about mailing and where to purchase locally.

If you are interested in a written history of Monroe, the society has again reprinted The Story of Monroe that Ed Hamilton wrote for the United States Bicentennial. They have a limited number of original copies available as well as the reprints for only $19. Included in each is an index of all of the names in the book.

I also put together a book called Becoming a Village: Monroe in the 1850s. It includes transcriptions of newspaper clippings in sections such as: Schools, Churches, Brick manufacturers, Accidents, Railroads, Farming, Fires & fire departments, Lectures & entertainment, and many more. The names in this section are fully indexed. It gives you an idea of what was going on in Monroe during that decade, including the arrival of the railroad. There is a census list of each person living in the village in 1860, their age, place of birth, occupation, and value of property. The agricultural, industrial, and mortality schedules of the census are also included. It tells, for instance, how many barrels of beer the brewery produced as well as how much raw material was used, how many employees there were, and the total salary of employees. Feel free to contact me if you’d like to obtain a copy of this book for only $10.

Another valuable resource is the 1861 Green County plat book that was printed by GCHS in 2012. It has a map of each township which displays the owner of each part of the rural area, with an index of those owners. Also included are a map of each of the villages (except Monticello) in the county with placement of some of the buildings. Prior to the printing of this publication, which was made from a large map of the county, the earliest plat book of Green County was from 1873. This book is available for purchase from GCHS for only $30; it is a bit larger (11” by 11”), so mailing would be more expensive. The map of Monticello was inadvertently left out, but can be copied from the GCHS website.

The History of Green County, a 1,158-page book printed in 1884, has more history of the county to that point than can be found anyplace else. These can occasionally be found at garage sales, flea markets, or antique stores if you keep your eyes open. Let me know if I might be of assistance.

Best wishes for finding the perfect presents for everyone on your list. Enjoy the season.

— Matt Figi is a Monroe resident and a local historian. His column will appear periodically on Saturdays in the Times. He can be reached at mfigi48@tds.net or at 608-325-6503.