This pilot project intends to locate the lost archives of the French colony of the Middle Congo, in Pointe-Noire, and to ultimately make them accessible - essential for studying the social history of populations in the present-day Republic of Congo. Research was carried out in three regional/local archives in Pointe-Noire, and the project produced a survey and inventory detailing the archives found during the exploratory visit. The team distributed its time between the Archives de la Préfecture de Pointe-Noire (APPN-CON), the Archives Municipales de Pointe-Noire integrated in the city's town hall, and the Archives du Chemin de Fer Congo-Océan (ACFCO-CON). These series normally contain essential observations from the local level, documenting the interactions between local populations and the agents of colonial rule. Although they seem at first glance to be a “colonial source,” in fact these are often the voices of African populations. These documents thus provide crucial insights into the social history of “pre-industrial” communities, and frequently offer the views of individuals from the local level in relatively unfiltered ways, within petitions or transcripts from administrative interviews.