Research Areas: Local History

Welcome to the online special collections of Forbes Library, including the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum and the Hampshire Room for Local History and Special Collections. We invite you to explore the collection for both pleasure and research.

This database contains only our digital archival and Special Collections materials. Additional special collections that have not yet been digitized can be seen in the library by appointment.

Images From The Archives allows you to search a portion of the library’s special collections which have been digitized. It’s great place to find images from local history, from the Mill River disaster to old portraits and photographs of iconic Northampton buildings. Newer content includes a community digital photography project and recent additions to the library’s fine art collection.

The Northampton Web Archive provides snapshots in time of websites of importance to the Northampton area.

The National Archivespreserves and cares for Federal records.  The National Archives at Pittsfield is closed.  Microfilm from Pittsfield is now located at the Berkshire Athenaeum.  The National Archives at Boston (Waltham) is open to genealogists and researchers.

The Museum of Springfield History combines the holdings of the Connecticut Valley Historical Society and the collections formerly housed in the Local History Room at the Springfield Library.
Collections include Genealogy, Springfield History, French Canadian Collection, Springfield Newspapers, Maps, Photographs, Manuscripts and Ephemera.

A searchable directory of archives and special collections in Massachusetts, produced by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners

A museum of early New England town architecture and lifestyle history.

The Massachusetts Archives holds the official records created by Massachusetts state government. Holdings are organized by agency and date from 1629 to the present.

In addition to its own collections, the library’s web site provides a guide provides an introduction to historical research at repositories other than the Massachusetts Historical Society.l

This collaboration of historical societies, sites, and museums has created a website including a directory of sites and an overview of research sources.

The Friends of Quabbin page has some resources for anyone interested in the history of the Quabbin Reservoir including the history of Enfield, Dana, Greenwich, and Prescott, the four towns which were leveled in preparation for the flooding of the Swift River Valley.

This site provides you with quick access to land records across Massachusetts. Most documents from 1948 on are searchable, and many other documents can be viewed online if the book and page number are known.