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Local Archive

Cleburne's Old Newspapers Are Going Online, 1918 Onward

Johnson County History & Culture

If you've ever tried to dig up an old Cleburne news story, you know the microfilm-reader headache. The Johnson County Historical Collective, formed in 2019 by the Cleburne Public Library and the Layland Museum, set out to fix that by scanning the city's newspapers and putting them online.

A $114,999 TexTreasures grant funded the first big chunk: issues of the Cleburne Morning Review and the Cleburne Times-Review from 1918 through 1990, now loaded onto the University of North Texas's Portal to Texas History, where the full text is searchable for free. More than twenty years of microfilm still waits its turn as funding allows.

It's the kind of quiet civic work that pays off years later — a name, a fire, a high-school game, a long-gone storefront, all suddenly findable. For anyone tracing family or property history in Johnson County, that searchable run of papers is a real shortcut.

Source to confirm: City of Cleburne — Local History Archive

More Johnson County notes

Property Tax

Two Offices Handle Property Tax in Johnson County

Johnson County has a separate appraisal district and tax office — they do different jobs, so knowing which one to call saves you time.

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Property Tax

Homestead Exemption Can Lower Your Property Tax Bill

If your home in Johnson County is your main residence, you likely qualify for a homestead exemption that reduces the taxable value.

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Vehicle Registration

Register Your Car at the Johnson County Tax Office

The Johnson County Tax Office handles vehicle titles and registration — the same office where you pay property taxes.

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City Limits & ETJ

Living Near Cleburne? The City's ETJ Reaches 2 Miles Out

Cleburne has an extraterritorial jurisdiction, a 2-mile buffer outside city limits where the city can regulate how land is divided but does not provide full city services.

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