New Hampshire Archives and Libraries

North America United States  New Hampshire  Archives and Libraries

These archives, libraries, societies, and museums preserve sources, maintain indexes, and provide services to help genealogists document their ancestors who lived in New Hampshire.

Wiki Articles on Major Repositories in New Hampshire
Allen County Public Library· American Antiquarian Society· American-Canadian Genealogical Society· Division of Archives and Records Management· Dover Public Library· Haverhill Public Library· Massachusetts State Archives· National Archives at Boston· Nashua Public Library· New England Historic Genealogical Society· New Hampshire Historical Society Library· New Hampshire State Library· University of New Hampshire Library· Vermont Historical Society Leahy Library

National Repositories
National Archives at Boston 380 Trapelo Road Waltham, MA 02452-6399 Phone: (781) 663-0130 Fax: (781) 663-0154 E-mail: [mailto:waltham.archives@nara.gov waltham.archives@nara.gov] Internet: National Archives at Boston


 * Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont documents, photos, and maps of 80 federal agencies, War of 1812, fortifications, coastal facilities, World War II research at Harvard and MIT, federal bankruptcy courts, First Circuit Court of Appeals, Navy, Coast Guard, westward expansion, ethnology, genealogy, Revolutionary War, Civil War, captured German records, territorial papers, censuses, passenger arrival records for Boston and New England, Canadian border crossings.

New England Historic Genealogical Society 101 Newbury Street Boston, Massachusetts 02116-3007 Telephone: 617-536-5740; Library 617-226-1231 Fax:  617-536-7307 E-mail:  [mailto:info@nehgs.org info@nehgs.org] Internet: AmericanAncestors.org


 * Best overall collection for New England vital records and probates, and excellent collection for Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, and Europe. The manuscript collection for members only has diaries, letters, account books, business papers, church and town records, sermons, maps, wills, deeds, unpublished town and family genealogies, photos, and papers of the region's best genealogists since 1850. The New Hampshire collection has great detail on some early families, unpublished family histories, and many town and county histories.

State Repositories
Division of Archives and Records Management New Hampshire Department of State 71 South Fruit Street Concord, New Hampshire 03301 Telephone: 603-271-2236 Fax: 603-271-2272
 * They hold the original town and state records.
 * Guide to Archives is alphabetical by subject matter found in the collections and publications.
 * New Hampshire. Department of State. Division of Records Management and Archives. Guide to Early Documents (c. 1680–c. 1900) is an inventory of documents at the New Hampshire Records Management and Archives Center. (Concord, N.H.: Division of Records Management, 1981). (

New Hampshire Historical Society Library


 * Clearly the best genealogical collection in the state including town, county, and state histories, church records, deeds 1640-1770, maps, unpublished genealogies, newspapers, and a 30,000 card index of NH notables.

New Hampshire State Library 20 Park Street Concord, New Hampshire 03301 Telephone: 603-271-6823 or 2144 Fax: 603-271-2205 Genealogy and New Hampshire History


 * They have nearly all published histories and genealogies for New Hampshire.

Regional Respositories
American-Canadian Genealogical Society


 * They have the Drouin Collection of Roman Catholic church records of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick, a good collection of New Brunswick censuses, and limited material from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. They also have a good New Hampshire and New England marriage collection, PRDH vitial events to 1800, Loiselle, Rivest, and Tanguay.

Dover Public Library


 * Their excellent genealogical collection includes New Hampshire unpublished genealogies, printed books, indexes, cemetery transcripts, obituaries, and biographies.

Nashua Public Library


 * Their nice genealogy collection is housed in one room. They have northern New England books, family folders, cemetery transcripts, obituaries, and manuscripts.

University of New Hampshire Library Dimond Library Special Collections 18 Library Way Durham, New Hampshire 03824 Telephone: 603-862-2714

Repositories Outside the State
Allen County Public Library 900 Library Plaza Fort Wayne, Indiana 46802 Telephone: 260-421-1225 E-mail: [mailto:genealogy@acpl.info genealogy@acpl.info] Internet: Genealogy Center ACPL


 * This is the second-largest genealogy collection in the United States and the largest genealogy collection in a public library. Its holdings include more than 350,000 printed volumes and 513,000 items on microfilm and microfiche. It has a premier genealogical periodical collection, local histories, genealogies, databases, military, censuses, directories, passenger lists, ethnic sources, and Canadians. They have a great eastern seaboard and New Hampshire collection.

American Antiquarian Society 185 Salisbury Street Worcester, Massachusetts 01609-1634 Telephone: 508-755-5221 Fax: 508-753-3311 E-mail: [mailto:Library@americanantiquarian.org Library@americanantiquarian.org] Internet: American Antiquarian Society


 * Best known for its U.S. newspaper collection of over 18,000 bound volumes 1704-1820, history, genealogy, Bibles, maps, biography, directories, Native Americans, women, canals, railroads, photos, manuscripts. They have New Hampshire vital records, newspapers, and town histories. One of the best genealogy centers in America.

Haverhill Public Library 99 Main Street Haverhill, Massachusetts 01830 Telephone: 978-373-1586 E-mail: [mailto:hpl-ref@mvlc.org hpl-ref@mvlc.org] Internet: Haverhill Public Library Special Collections


 * One of New England's largest collections of original manuscripts, books, genealogical periodicals, and surname folders, local history collection, genealogy databases, Massachusetts vital records to 1910, federal and state censuses, 9,000 New England town and family histories. Their collection of New England and New Hampshire sources is larger than most.

Massachusetts State Archives 220 Morrissey Boulevard Boston, MA 02125 Phone: (617) 727–2816 E-mail: [mailto:archives@sec.state.ma.us archives@sec.state.ma.us ] Internet: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcidx.htm


 * The Massachusetts Archives Index, aka "Colonial Index" lists nearly every New England immigrant including those who settled New Hampshire.

Vermont Historical Society Leahy Library Vermont History Center 60 Washington Street Barre, Vermont 05641 Telephone: 802-479-8500 E-mail: [mailto:info@vermonthistory.org info@vermonthistory.org] Website: Vermont History Center


 * VHS is definitely the best research center for early Vermont residents, many of whom migrated from New Hampshire.

Web Sites
You can find computerized research tips and information about ancestors from New Hampshire in a variety of sources at local, state, national, and international levels. The list of sources is growing rapidly, and most of the information is available at no cost. The following sites are gateways linking you to more sites (addresses are subject to change):


 * FamilySearch. At this site you can access the FamilySearch Catalog, Ancestral File, International Genealogical Index, lists of Family History Centers, web sites related to family history, and lists of researchers interested in similar genealogical topics. You can also learn about and order Family History Library publications.


 * Howells, Cyndi. U.S.- New Hampshire, in Cyndi’s List. This list has more links to other New Hampshire genealogical sites and describes more resources than any other site on the Internet. (Cited 14 December 1999).


 * New Hampshire Index, USGenWeb, in USGenWeb Archives. This is 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. (Cited 14 December 1999).


 * Roots-L New Hampshire, in RootsWeb. This list of sites and resources includes a large, regularly-updated research coordination list. (Cited 14 December 1999).


 * Guant, Christine. New Hampshire Resources, in Genealogy Bookmarks. This site provides links to vital record offices, genealogical and historical societies, and other Internet sites. (Cited 14 December 1999).


 * New Hampshire Genealogy in GeneaSearch. This site brings searchable data to genealogists, including databases (church, cemetery, census, land, immigration, naturalization, and vital records), directories, historical accounts, mailing lists, queries, local surname researchers, and look-up volunteers. (Accessed 29 May 2012).


 * New Hampshire Databases in Genealogy.org. This site has links to many databases for city directories, census, vital records, etc. for many places in New Hampshire. (Accessed 29 May 2012).

Further inventories and other information about New Hampshire archives and libraries can be found in the FamilySearch Catalog Place Search under:


 * NEW HAMPSHIRE - ARCHIVES AND LIBRARIES
 * NEW HAMPSHIRE, [COUNTY] - ARCHIVES AND LIBRARIES
 * NEW HAMPSHIRE, [COUNTY], [TOWN] - ARCHIVES AND LIBRARIES