Local history has been much neglected in many social studies curricula, in spite of its potential for providing students with authentic and proximal objects of study for the development of historical thinking and understanding of historical agency. This paper presents the results of a collaborative research endeavour, conducted with two teachers and their fifth grade students, and centred on a learning unit about local history. The unit included a field enquiry and role-play based on the use of primary source evidence. Results show that the unit favoured the development of some structural concepts of historical thinking and helped students see themselves as historical agents.