Maine Archives and Libraries

The following archives, libraries, and societies have collections or services helpful to researchers. Since Maine was part of Massachusetts until 1819, some records in Massachusetts have information about people living in Maine before 1819. See:

Maine State Archives State House Station 84 Augusta, ME 04333-0084 Telephone: 207-287-5795 Fax: 207-289-5739 Internet: http://www.maine.gov/sos/arc/

A useful guide to municipal and county records is:

Public Record Repositories in Maine. 1976. Augusta, Maine: Maine State Archives, 1976. (FHL book 974.1 A5m 1976; film 1036235 item 6; 1972 edition on film 928040 item 4; fiche 6051251).

National Archives—Northeast Region 380 Trapelo Road Waltham, MA 02154 Telephone: 617-647-8100 Fax: 617-647-8460 Internet: http://www.archives.gov/northeast/boston/

Maine Historical Society 485 Congress Street Portland, ME 04101 Telephone: 207-774-1822 Fax: 207-775-4301 Internet: http://www.mainehistory.org/

Maine Genealogical Society P.O. Box 221 Farmington, ME 04938-0221 Maine State Library State House Station #64 Augusta ME 04333 Telephone 207-289-5600 Fax 207-287-5615 Internet: http://www.rootsweb.com/~megs/index.htm

New England Historic Genealogical Society 101 Newbury Street Boston, MA 02116-3007 Telephone: 617-536-5740, 1-888-286-3447 Membership Department: 888-286-3447 Fax: 617-536-7307 Internet: http://www.newenglandancestors.org/

Bangor Public Library 145 Harlow Street Bangor, ME 04401 Telephone: 207-947-8336 Fax 207-945-6694 Internet: http://www.bpl.lib.me.us/

University of Maine at Orono Raymond H. Fogler Library, Special Collections P.O. Box 5729 Orono, ME 04469-5729 Telephone: 207-581-1686 Fax: 207-581-1653 Internet: http://www.umaine.edu/

Family History Library 35 N. West Temple St. Salt Lake City, UT 84150 Telephone: 1-866-406-1830 Internet: http://www.familysearch.org

Computer Networks and Bulletin Boards
Computers with modems are important tools for obtaining information from selected archives and libraries. In a way, computer networks themselves serve as a library. The Internet, certain computer bulletin boards, and commercial on-line services help family history researchers:


 * Locate other researchers
 * Post queries
 * Send and receive E-mail
 * Search large databases
 * Search computer libraries
 * Join in computer chat and lecture sessions

You can find computerized research tips and information about ancestors from Maine in a variety of sources at local, state, national, and international levels. The list of sources is growing rapidly. Most of the information is available at no cost. Addresses on the Internet are subject to frequent changes. The following sites are important gateways linking you to many more network and bulletin board sites:

USGenWeb

 * http://www.usgenweb.com/

A cooperative effort by many volunteers to list genealogical databases, libraries, bulletin boards, and other resources available on the Internet for each county, state, and country.

Roots-L

 * http://www.rootsweb.com/roots-l/usa/

A useful list of sites and resources. Includes a large, regularly updated research coordination list.

For further details about using computer networks, bulletin boards, and news groups for family history research, see the United States Research Outline, 2nd ed., "Archives and Libraries" section.