Image of Cromptons Importer fire and Expositor Circa 1920

Local History Room

Our Local History and Archives room at the Main Branch features a wide range of books and equipment needed to research local and family history.

The Local History Room is equipped with:

  • Computers
  • Microfilm and Microform machines
  • Large-format book scanner

Local History resources:

  • Free access to Ancestry.com (available only in Library)
  • Cemetery transcripts
  • Census records
  • City directories/Telephone books
  • Family histories
  • Newspapers (on microfilm) dating back to the 1850s.
  • Ontario Archives Indexes (on microfilm)
  • Genealogy reference books
  • Scrapbooks
  • Local History vertical files

For assistance or to get tips and research best practices, book 30-minutes of one-on-one help with a library staff member through our Ask a Librarian service.

In addition to the collection in our Local History Room, our Digital Archives features many digitized books, biographies, newspapers, school yearbooks and pictorial histories. We also have an online searchable Birth, Marriage, Death Index.