Massachusetts Archives and Libraries

United States Massachusetts  Archives and Libraries

These repositories preserve sources, maintain indexes, and provide services to help genealogists document their ancestors who lived in Massachusetts.

Wiki Articles on Major Repositories in Massachusetts
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National Repositories
Pittsfield Federal Records Center 10 Conte Drive Pittsfield, MA 01201-8230 Telephone: 413-236-3603 Fax: 413-236-3609 E-mail: [mailto: frc@nara.gov frc@nara.gov] Internet: http://www.archives.gov/frc/pittsfield/


 * The Pittsfield Center has CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT federal government agency and court documents. Their large genealogy microfilm collection has been transferred to the Berkshire Athenaeum  listed below.

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only has diaries, letters, account books, business papers, church and town records, sermons, maps, wills, deeds, unpublished town and family genealogies, photos, and papers of the region's best genealogists since 1850.

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: http://www.americanantiquarian.org/


 * 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.

Statewide Repositories
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


 * Government records, censuses, military records, land records, naturalizations, divorces, probate, name changes, and adoptions. Only 18 of the 328 volumes of the excellent Massachusetts Archives Collection, aka Felt Collection, of 1629-1799 history are indexed online. The Archives' online searchable collections include:
 * The Massachusetts Archives Collection Database (1629-1799) serves as a searchable, descriptive index and catalog for documents of eighteen volumes of the Massachusetts Archives Collection.
 * Index to Passenger Manifests (1848-1891)
 * Index to Vital Records (1841-1910)

Massachusetts Historical Society Library 1154 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02215-3695 Telephone: 617-536-1608 Fax: 617-859-0074 E-mail: Contact Us Internet: http://www.masshist.org/


 * Excellent historical materials, original town records, newspapers and genealogies. This collection does not repeat the New England Historic Genealogical Society collection.

State Library of Massachusetts State House, Room 341 24 Beacon Street Boston, MA 02133 Phone: (617) 727–2590 Fax: (617) 727–5819 Internet: State Library of Massachusetts


 * Published books, periodicals, state and town histories, government publications, city directories, maps, tax records, newspapers and indexes.

Regional Repositories
Berkshire Athenaeum 1 Wendell Ave Pittsfield, MA 01201 Telephone: 413-499-9480 Fax: 413-499-9489 E-mail: [mailto:pittsref@cwmars.org pittsref@cwmars.org] Internet: http://www.pittsfieldlibrary.org/


 * Best genealogical respository in western Massachusetts, including newspapers, books, and family histories. Now includes the former Pittsfield Federal Records Center's 71,000 microfilms of censuses, Revolutionary War pension and bounty land warrants, service records 1784-1901, Mexican War, Civil War, World War I, New England naturalizations, 1791-1966, passenger arrivals at Boston, New York, Philadelphia and east coast ports, Canadian border crossings, Indian enrollment cards, Russian Consular records, Barbour Collection for Connecticut, and Vermont vital records index.

Boston Public Library 700 Boylston St. Boston, MA 02116 Phone: (617) 536–5400 Fax: (617) 536–4306 E-mail: [mailto:info@bpl.org info@bpl.org] Internet: http://www.bpl.org/


 * Their collection includes New England newspapers, city directores, town records, county and local histories, and genealogies.

Dedham Historical Society Library 612 High Street Dedham, MA 02027-0125 Telephone: 781-326-1385 E-mail: [mailto:society@dedhamhistorical.org society@dedhamhistorical.org] Internet: http://dedhamhistorical.org/


 * Great collection of manuscripts including deeds, vital and town records from the 15 towns created from old Dedham (south of Boston).

Haverhill Public Library 99 Main Street Haverhill, MA 01830 Telephone: 978-373-1586 E-mail: [mailto:hpl-ref@mvlc.org hpl-ref@mvlc.org] Internet: http://www.haverhillpl.org/about/local-history/#genealogy-resources


 * 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.

Houghton Library Harvard University Harvard Yard Harvard University Cambridge, MA 02138 Telephone: 617-495-2440 Internet: http://www.hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/houghton/index.cfm


 * Manuscripts and rare books from many nations, but especially New England, Britain and Europe, historical archives of publishing history, political and missionary archives, paintings and artifacts. Largest volume of primary historical documents.

Jones Library 43 Amity Street Amherst, MA 01002 Telephone: 413-259-3090 Internet: http://www.joneslibrary.org/


 * The Boltwood Collection includes 20,000 documents, genealogies, family folders, genealogy periodicals, newspapers, and local histories with an emphasis on Amherst and the Pioneer Valley.

Peabody Essex Museum Phillips Library 1 Second Street (temporarily) Peabody, MA USA Telephone: 978-745-9500, or 866-745-1876 For the Hearing Impaired: 978-740-3649 Internet: http://www.pem.org/


 * Essex County books, manuscripts, and government records such as probate records, customs records, and maritime records. Can often help find trans-Atlantic ship logs, and ship images.

Plymouth Public Library 132 South Street Plymouth, MA 02360 Telephone: 508-830-4250 E-mail: Contact Us Internet: http://www.plymouthpubliclibrary.org/


 * Almost all published histories and genealogies of early Massachusetts settlers are here.

Springfield History Library and Archives (formerly Connecticut Valley Historical Museum Library) 21 Edwards Street Springfield, Massachusetts 01103 Telephone: 800-625-7738 E-mail: [mailto:wmshlibrary@springfieldmuseums.org wmshlibrary@springfieldmuseums.org] Internet: Springfield History Library and Archives


 * Can help identify Massachusetts emigrants headed west using vital records, land records, and probate records from many New England towns. They also have French Canadian records, the Loiselle Index, New York passenger arrivals, computer databases, over 20,000 genealogy books, 6,000 microforms, 50,000 photos and 2.5 million manuscripts including diaries, and account books.

University of Massachusetts Amherst Library 154 Hicks Way Amherst, MA 01003 Telephone: 413-545-0284 E-mail: [mailto:ref@library.umass.edu ref@library.umass.edu] Internet: http://www.library.umass.edu/ and their Online Guide to Genealogy


 * Very large set of biographies, genealogies, and never-published histories, and church, business, fraternal, insurance, and manufacturing records. They also have the Massachusetts Archives Collection  microfilms, Franklin, Hampshire, and Suffolk counties' probate records, especially Connecticut River Valley towns.

Boston Massachusetts Family History Center 150 Brown Street Weston, Massachusetts 02493-2604 Telephone: 781-235-2164


 * The largest Family History Center in New England. Can order microfilms from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. They have published town and county histories of New England, social histories, vital records, family histories, and major indexes.


 * For additional information, see also Massachusetts Repositories.

Outside of Massachusetts Repositories
New York Public Library U.S. History, Local History & Genealogy Irma and Paul Milstein Division First Floor, Room 121 Schwarzman Main Branch Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street New York, New York 10018-2788 Telephone: 212-930-0828 E-mail: [mailto:histref@nypl.org histref@nypl.org] Internet: NYPL home page


 * The Genealogy Division has an outstanding collection of American history at national, state and local levels; international genealogy and heraldry in Roman alphabets; Dorot Jewish collection; manuscripts, photos; New York censuses, directories, vital records, Revolutionary War soldiers, Irish in America, and Massachusetts records.

Onondaga Historical Association Library 321 Montgomery Street Syracuse, New York 13202 Telephone:315-428-1864 Fax: 315-471-2133 E-mail: Contact Us] Internet: http://www.cnyhistory.org/index.html


 * 10,000 family folders for northeastern families, including many from Massachusetts.

Vermont Historical Society Leahy Library Leahy Library Vermont History Center 60 Washington Street Barre, Vermont 05641-4209 Telephone: 802-479-8509 Fax: 802-479-8510 Email: [mailto:vhs-library@state.vt.us vhs-library@state.vt.us] Internet: http://vermonthistory.org/


 * Their collection includes a comprehensive name index of Massachusetts people, strong collection of family and town histories of New England, vital records, cemetery transcripts, genealogical periodicals, manuscripts, maps, and photos.

Guidebooks
Two important inventories of Massachusetts records are:


 * Historical Records Survey (Massachusetts). Preliminary Edition of Guide to Depositories of Manuscript Collections in Massachusetts (Boston, Massachusetts: Historical Records Survey, 1939). . . This work lists major manuscript collections and their locations.


 * Carroll D. Wright, Report on the Custody and Condition of the Public Records of Parishes, Towns, and Counties (Boston, Massachusetts: Wright and Potter, 1889). . . Gives a brief description of the town records that existed in 1889 and which may still be available.