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New York State: Local History & Genealogy Resource Guide

Digital Collections and Resources

The digital collections and online resources of the Library of Congress contain a wide variety of primary source and educational materials related to the local history for each U.S. state and territory.

Architecture and Historic Buildings

Part of the digitized image collections, these architectural and engineering records can be useful in researching local history and genealogy.

Bibliographies and Guides

These research guides provide additional digital and print state-specific resources.

City and Telephone Directories

City and telephone directories allow you to look for individuals, families, or businesses to view such details as: addresses, occupations, and household residents. Observed broadly, they will also provide a community perspective. The following resources provide an inventory of the city and telephone directories available at the Library of Congress.

Images Online

For a convenient list of the digitized directories:

  1. Click on the Collection Items tab.
  2. Scroll down the sidebar until you see Location. On that list, click More Locations.
  3. On this page, you can select the option to organize the location list alphabetically.
  4. Now you can navigate all cities included in the digital collection. Once you select the city of interest, you can use the Sort By box in the top-right corner to arrange the directories for that city by date.

Lists of Available Directories in Print and Microform

Maps

The following online map collections include maps and views of cities, counties, battlefields, transportation, and general geography. Explore each collection using the search box on the upper-right. Type in city or town names to view related items. Search all digitized map collections to find additional local and state geographical documentation of communities from the colonial era to present day.

Newspapers

Historic newspapers also provide important content for historical and genealogical research.

Personal Papers of New York Residents

The Library's manuscript collections provide a wealth of research materials related to important individuals in state and local history.

Prints and Photographs

The Library of Congress has digitized a wealth of unique and historical visual materials important when researching local and family history.

The Teacher's Page

The resources on this site are designed for teachers of elementary through high school teachers and students.

Today in History

These web pages highlight important events connected to particular dates in history.

Veteran's History Project

The Veterans History Project (VHP) collects and preserves the remembrances of American war veterans and civilian workers who supported them.