Laura Finger | Updates

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Laura Finger — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:22:52 -0400

German Texans

The Texas Historical Commission has a playlist dedicated to German Texans.

Texas Game Wardens

Get to know what the women and men of the

Texas County Officials

Texas has its own brand of who does what. Get oriented here.

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Yes, Houston does have its own preservation groups

Laura Finger — Mon, 3 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

For all of you naysayers out there.

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More funding options for small towns like Madison, Texas

Laura Finger — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I've talked a lot about the funding for the courthouse renovations in

THC has funding for what they call Certified Local Governments, which means that the city or county is working actively to preserve their historical assets.

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How to do deed reserach in Texas

Laura Finger — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Interested in reseraching land records and deeds in Texas? The Texas Historical Commisssion (THC) presents a workshop on how to do just that. Welcome to the real County Clerks' offices across the state of Texas.

Embedded Youtube video removed, see original post to watch.

For Sarah Montgomery and other County Clerks in Texas, deeds are a large part of their daily duties. For researchers, geneologists and land owners, these records are vital. Most clerks would kiss you if you came into their offices prepared to start research on your own. It's a time saver, especailly if you're limited in time or the amount of trips you can make.

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Interested in a historic courthouse crawl across Texas?

Laura Finger — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Texas Historical Commission (THC) has a list of the historic courthouses dotted across the state. You can spend days, weeks or even months (if you hit the BBQ places in between) driving across the state and seeing these beauties.

I based the Verde County Courthouse on the limestone beauties of the Hill Country.

I'm shaking my head at THC's organization of their website. Most of the pages devoted to individual courthouses are on their "Historic Downtowns" section. But given the fact that this is my blog, I'm going to reogranize them the way that I want.

How very Texan.

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What records schedule does Sarah follow?

Laura Finger — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Actually, as the County Records Management Officer, Sarah's responsible for a lot of record schedules. In her elected duties as County Clerk of Verde County, her office specifically has several types of records that she and her employees are responsible for oveseeing.

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?Did you know that Texas Parks and Wildlife has a kids book about bats

Laura Finger — Thu, 9 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

They do, and it's FREE! Get the PDF here from TPWD.

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More bat viewing opportunities in Texas: Old Tunnel State Park

Laura Finger — Mon, 6 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

There's no shortage of places to view bats in Texas. Creating a suprise colony of bats in a courthouse building was really a no- brainer for me.

I have a smaller option for you today: Old Tunnel State Park. Located in an old railroad tunnel, a colony of about 3 million bats (I swear, these guys can make a home out of anything)

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What do County Clerks do in Texas?

Laura Finger — Wed, 1 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Sarah does a lot, but what do actual County Clerks do in Texas?

Texas Association of Counties (TAC) has you covered.

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What officials are elected in Texas counties?

Laura Finger — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

We do things our own way in Texas. Some of our local officials are elected, and some are appointed.

Do you know which are which?

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Records Management basics for local governments

Laura Finger — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Things can get confusing and complicated, and since I write fiction now, I can massage things a bit for dramatic impact.

Eons ago, I was a Records Analyst, and I had to follow Texas' requirements for local records management.

Here's a quick guide to Texas Local Government records schedules. It's a simplified version.

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Map making

Laura Finger — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I've been busy this week teaching myself how to make maps. As I'm expanding my website for selling my books directly, I've been brainstorming ways to enhance the world of Madison and Verde County, Texas.

I've been scouring the net for comparable towns across Texas to base Madison's streets and Verde county on, and with my Procreate subscription I've been making a visual world of my own making.

Check back for more updates and free goodies on my store.

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A historical architecture guide that's Andrew Kim approved

Laura Finger — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I was at Goodwill this week, and for some unknown reason I found the original edition of A Field Guide to American Houses in the Self- Help section. I was shocked for several reasons, not the least of which the fact that one of the basic reference books from grad school was staring right back at me.

I don't know where my original copy went. It might have been lost in a move. This one was only $2.99. That's probably because there's a newer 2015 edition out now. The new edition currently goes for $45, so I figured I could make do with the original.

This book is how I learned to visually identify historical buildings in grad school at Middle Tennessee State University. It was required reading in my Historical Architecture class. Given the fact that Andrew Kim is an architect and not a historian (like me), he might not use this one as a regular resource in his work.

But Andrew's my own creation, so I made it an indespinsable resource for him while he does is preservation work. Actually, he has a beaten copy in his equally beaten up pickup. The pickup that Olivia wasn't thrilled about seeing the first time she met Andrew.

Meet Andrew and Olivia in Blueprint for the Heart here.

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Progress on my online store!

Laura Finger — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Good news, everyone! Curios is closer now to rolling out a smooth way to order print editions of my books directly from my website. It's June of 2026 now, and soon you'll be able to order my books in print OR get an ebook / print bundle from me.

I'm so excited about this opportunity because it allows me to offer a wider range of things for readers, and at price points that I believe in. Right now I'm hemmed in by restrictions on online retailer like Amazon and Barnes and Noble for how much I can charge for my books. I can't offer a book bundle for more than $9.99 at Amazon or I'll lose too much money, and I'm required to offer ALL of my print books at B&N at a minimum of $18.99.

Curios is still working out the remaining technical bugs, but as soon as we authors get the go ahead from them that they're working with Book Vault, I'll be offering print from me to you.

Then the sky's the limit, because I've got some other related items that I've been dying to share with you.

Until then, y'all!

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A quick start guide for records managers in Texas.

Laura Finger — Mon, 8 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

It's frustrating and overwhelming to tackle that mess in your office, but no one has to go it alone.

Thank TSLAC for compiling a guide. There's a packet for elected officials, and one for non- elected officials. "The elected guys" as we used to refer to them, get their own packets because we all know that sometimes elections get acrimonious and the person you're replacing sometimes leaves a mess for you to inherit on your first day. That's exactly what I planned for Judge Patti Williams when she succeeded Judge Cavanaugh.

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Finding County records in Texas

Laura Finger — Mon, 1 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC or Tea Slack) has you covered.

Embedded Youtube video removed, see original post to watch.

TSLAC is a great staring place for researching county records, but it's hardly the only place to search. Texas Fils has an online database of land records across the state. They also have probate records, searchable by each of the 254 counties.

Despite Texas' notorious anti- federal leanings, it's worth it to check out the Library of Congress's resources for vital statistic and genealogical records that are grouped by state.

If you're looking for court records, Research TX has its own online searchable database for court proceedings within the state.

If you know the county you're searching in, Bexar county for example, you can directly search records within the county's own website. Of course, the smaller and more rural the county, the more likely you'll need to visit in person.

Want to visit a Texas County from the comfort of your own chair? Head to Verde County.

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How to create a records retention schedule in a few(er) easier steps

Laura Finger — Mon, 25 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Believe it or not, there are some pre made retention schedules that county officials in Texas can use in order to comply with records retention laws. No one has to start completely from scratch.

About 99% of the records held by any local entity in the state are covered by the state records schedules. TSLAC tried to make it as easy as possible. And in most case, it really is that simple.

And if they want to come up with something completely their own, they can still do a hybrid. In very rare cases, a county may need to add a records series that doesn't exist anywhere else on their schedule. It does happen, but in my experience working with county clerks and other local government officials across the state, it's a very rare occasion.

What usually happens, is that they want to over-complicate the matter. Many times, they could just list what they felt was "unicorn records" under the very mundane records series of "Accounts Receivable" or "Accounts Payable." We had to keep telling panicked officials "don't make this harder on yourself than it is."

The catch? The local government has to send proof in writing that they've voted to adopt these schedules before they start deleting or shredding (burn, shred pulp) their records. Just printing them off from TSLAC's website isn't enough.

And yes, plenty of people have tried to do that. The stories I could tell as a former Records Analyst at the State Records Center. Actually, I do have a fictionalized story about that. Want to hear about it?

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Bracken Cave Bat Colony, part II

Laura Finger — Mon, 18 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Yes, I know it's not Halloween yet. We fly in August.

I kept digging at the Texas Parks and Wildlife You Tube channel, and I found this short video on the Bracken Cave Bat Colony, which is the largest bat colony in the world. I mentioned last week that you can make reservations with Bat Conservation International (BCI), the organization that owns the land where the cave is located. If you become a member of BCI (and I've done that), you can even get a discount on your reservation.

Embedded Youtube video removed, see original post to watch.

Look at the little guys and gals go! Want to learn about the bat colony in Madison, Texas? Learn about it here.

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How Sarah Montgomery became responsible for this mess.

Laura Finger — Mon, 11 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In Sarah's case, she more or less knew what she was getting into. As the fourth woman in her family to run for and earn the position of County Clerk of Verde County, she had an idea of what a county records manager (Records Management Officer, or RMO).

But there is a process with two ways to become an RMO.

She doesn't have to do all of it alone, despite the weight of the Montgomery legacy. As with all (real) counties in Texas, there are countless emplyoees who go about carrying out the work of managing records. Everyone needs a Logan in their lives.

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The bats of Bracken Cave, Texas.

Laura Finger — Mon, 4 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The largest colony of Mexican free- tailed bats in Texas is located at Bracken Cave, in Central Texas. The Bat Conservation International owns the cave. As stewards of the cave and its colony, BCI is responsible for ensuring that development doesn't encroach on the natural landscape of the cave.

The pups will roost sepreate from the females, and the males roost in small groups in a different locale. Are the males absent fathers, then? Strictly speaking, I'd say yes. They don't take any role in helping raise the newborns or the pups.

The cave is about 15 miles northwest of San Antonio. Yes, you can visit, but you'll have to get in touch with BCI before you go for reservations. Joining BCI makes it easier to book a reservation. BCI has a great summary of the cave and a great video on their website.

There they go!

Embedded Youtube video removed, see original post to watch.

Want to learn about Madison's own bat colony? Get the book here.

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