Local history is a branch of history studies practised in worldwide. However, it seems that there is not common understanding of what local history is with respect to the methodology. Regarding such subdiscipline, this work is a reflection of the local history produced in Chile by taking into account the experiences of The United States of America and England. The results of the research show that local history can be understood in both ways, as questioning general historical narratives and by raising the profile of specific historical cases. Moreover, it can also be used as an educational resource to teach something that could seem distant and abstract to young people. The problem is the presence of methodological and theoretical misunderstandings that can impinge on the real working capacities of the mentioned historiographical approach, especially in the Chilean case. In this context, the experience known from the Anglo-Saxon countries suggests understanding local history in its educational and research capacity from its interdisciplinary potential.