The Historical Society of Montgomery County has Genealogical Resources

The Historical Society of Montgomery County is located in Norristown, Pennsylvania. The Society began in 1881, three years before the County’s centennial celebration. A group of notable county residents created the Historical Society to protect local history.

Over the course of the twentieth century, the Society’s collection now includes family genealogy files, early deeds, tax records, maps, census records, photographs, scrapbooks, newspapers and more. They also hold valuable objects in their collections vaults. Those objects include furniture, paintings, inventions, scientific instruments, and textiles.

Their Library and Archives holdings contain over thirty thousand titles including books, pamphlets, newspapers and archival materials. Admission to the Library is free for members and $5 per day for non-members.

Some Genealogy Resources Include:

Ancestry.com
Explore Ancestry.com’s collections of genealogical material including birth, marriage, death and census records detailing occupations, ages, siblings, birthplaces, addresses and more. Available on-site only through the Library’s research computer workstations.

Newspapers
Microfilm copies of the Ambler Gazette, Norristown Register, Norristown Herald, and the Norristown Times Herald are available. Unique holdings of the National Defender, Bauren Freund, and the National Anti-Slaver Standard are also part of the collection.

Family Files
Compromising over 1800 individual names, these papers have been collected over the years by researchers, staff, and family members.

* County Records
* Deeds (1784-1890)
* Deaths (1893-1915)
* Naturalizations (1817-1968)
* Marriage Licenses (1885-1943)
* Taxes by Township (1784-1935)
* Sheriff Dockets
* Miscellaneous Deed Books

City Directories
Pre-dating phonebooks, these directories provide information about where people lived and information about their occupation. The Directories range in date from 1860-1978. Most cover Norristown, Bridgeport, and Pottstown.

Federal Census
The Society has microfilm from every Montgomery County census available to the public from 1790 to 1930 (except for 1890), with indexes.

Maps and Atlases
The maps in the collection cover many areas of the county. Particularly helpful are the Atlases of Montgomery County from 1871, 1877 and 1893. These are complimented by many railroad atlases.

Digital Newspapers
The digital collection includes newspapers from the Historical Society of Montgomery County collections that have been digitized and made accessible to the public.

* Olive Branch – published in Norristown from 1851-1857
* Ardmore Chronicle – weekly newspaper for Ardmore, Pennsylvania

The Historical Society of Montgomery County owns and maintains the Historic Montgomery Cemetery. The Society took over responsibility for the entire cemetery in 1997 after years of neglect, vandalism and wear had taken their toll.

With almost 6,000 known burials, Montgomery Cemetery holds the remains of some of the most prominent citizens, veterans, and reformers in the county and nation. Veterans buried there include five Civil War generals and veterans from the War of 1812 through the Korean War.

Related Article at FamilyTree.com:

* Genealogical Resources at Cobb County Genealogical Society

* Genealogical Resources at Paradise, CA Genealogical Society

* Resources at Clay County Genealogical Society