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99 Main Street
Haverhill, MA 01830
(978) 373-1586
fax: (978) 373-8466

 

Haverhill Weather

 

 
Special Collections

Phone (978) 373-1586 x642
Email:
hpl-sc@mvlc.org

Special Collections Hours

* Effective from March 10 - June 30, 2008 *
Monday    1:00-5:00pm and 6:00-8:30pm
Tuesday   10:00am-1:00pm and 2:00-5:30pm
Wednesday and Thursday     CLOSED
Friday    10:00am-1:00pm and 2:00-4:30pm
The room will be open the 1st Saturday of each month from
10:00am-1:00pm and 2:00-4:30pm (April 5, May 3 and June 7) -- the
preceding Friday the room will be Closed (April 4, May 2 and June 6).

Research your family tree using...
Heritage Quest Online and Ancestry.com
(In Library Only)

(Click here for Heritage Quest from Home)

 Library History  ||  Collections  ||  Research

Haverhill Citizen's Hall of Fame   ||  Genealogy Links

What is 'Special Collections'?
Special Collections is a separate area of non-circulating material in a number of specialized fields including local and regional history, art, genealogy, rare books, maps, and photographs. There are microfilm/fiche reader/printer, microfilm  reader, microfiche reader, photocopier, black & white photographic services available.  For more information, including mission statement and history of Special Collections, please see our Preservation Plan

Research
We regret to inform you that due to staff reductions in our Special Collections Department, we can no longer accept telephone, e-mail or standard mail requests for research pertaining to local history, genealogy, the Gale Art collection, and archived microfilm or microfiche.

Collections

 

Gale Art Collection:  Begun in 1888, this is one of the most extensive collections of Art and Architecture Books in the Merrimac Valley and now contains over 6500 volumes on diverse subjects. Includes many rare 19th century works.

Haverhill History Collection:  Over 17,000 photographs of historic Haverhill. You can view a sample of our historical photograph collections, view art and special displays in the third floor gallery, or find out more about Haverhill natives such as Hannah Dustin or John Greenleaf Whittier. This collection contains city documents in manuscript form, photographs, 200 volumes of newspaper clippings, city directories (1850 - present), cemetery records, books, pamphlets and manuscripts. File categories include authors, business, churches, clubs, history, houses, manufacturing, monuments, neighborhoods, railroads, rivers, schools, societies, and theaters.

Pecker Genealogical Collection: This collection has approximately 9,000 volumes with a concentration on Massachusetts Families. Names include Alden, Allen, Ayer, Bailey, Barnes, Bartlett, Carleton, Chase, Clarke, Clement, Clough, Coffin, Cogswell, Currier, Dustin, Eaton, Emerson, Emery, Foster, Hale, Hardy, Hutchins, Kimball, Lane, Luce, Lunt, Moody, Morrill, Noyes, Pillsbury, Poore, Sargent, Sawyer, Shapley, Small, Sterling, Threlfall, Whittier and Woodbury.

Rare Books Collection: 2,500 Volumes on topics such as New England sermons, witchcraft, slavery, American almanacs, 19th century American first editions, etc.

Vital Records Collection:

  • Massachusetts Vital Records through 1910 in books and on microfilm.

  • Massachusetts State Census 1855 and 1865 on microfilm with transcriptions of Haverhill, Bradford, Ipswich, Groveland, Hamilton, Manchester, Essex, Georgetown, Boxford, West Boxford, Newbury, North Andover, Rockport, Swampscott, Wenham, West Newbury, and Topsfield.

  • Federal Census for Essex County, Massachusetts 1790-1920 in books and on microfilm

  • Federal Census for Rockingham County, New Hampshire 1850-1920 on microfilm

  • Essex County Probate Records, 1671-1857 on microfilm

  • Society of Friends (Quaker) Records for Hampton and Seabrook, New Hampshire, 1701-1888 on microfilm

 

Whittier Collection: This collection contains books, manuscripts and photographs of the Quaker poet with biographies about Whittier as well as works of literary criticism. In addition, there are books on Quaker History, Quaker authors, as well as biographies of contemporary 19th century writers and anti-slavery crusaders. Location:  Trustees Room, 2nd floor

Online Genealogy Research (Favorite Internet Sites)

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