Local records are the foundation on which social history is constructed. However, in an era when most historians categorize themselves as social historians, it is amazing to note how much these primary resources appear to be underutilized in scholarly works. This article attempts to understand why this is so by investigating how it is that historians seek resources and how archivists make them available. It then proposes possible solutions beneficial to both the institutions and the researchers alike on how to make the most of these often difficult to access records. (Contains 42 notes.)