Local History Services

Burlington Public Library has long been aware of the importance of preserving the local history of Burlington and its surrounding areas. The library has accumulated various historical materials documenting the area's history and families in partnership with the Burlington Historical Society (BHS).

The local history collection contains many historical materials about the city of Burlington, including a large selection of books, published local histories, biographical files of pioneer families, files on cemeteries, churches and schools, local newspapers and indexes, directories, postcards, atlases, photographs, scrapbooks, yearbooks and more. The Burlington History Room at Central Branch, 2nd floor, is also home to the BHS archives.

To view materials from the Burlington History Room, inquire about local history or make a donation to the collection, please contact the Digital Resources & Collections Manager through our online form or call 905.639.3611 extension 1150.

Decisions regarding donations are guided by our Local History Collection Policy.

Collections & Services

Get started here with your local history research.

Burlington Digital Archive

Burlington Digital Archive houses the local history digital collections of Burlington Public Library, Burlington Historical Society, and the City of Burlington. Access our growing online database of images, local newspapers, historic local family collections, postcard collections, scrapbooks and more.

Looking for more digital history? We also recommend browsing Digital Archive Ontario through Toronto Public Library.

Search Our Archives

Burlington Public Library is a member of the Archives Association of Ontario (AAO). You can find descriptions of our archival holdings on Archeion, a database of records located in archives across Ontario.

Research Your Burlington House

There are various resources that can be used to document the history of a building. Researching the history of a property may require some serious digging to piece the story together. But the results are always rewarding! You can find resources in the local history collection to help you research the history of your Burlington property. There are also invaluable records that can be found at the City of Burlington, Office of the City Clerk.

Genealogy

The public library is a great place to start your family research. Check out these online resources.

Microfilm and Microfiche

Burlington Public Library has two digital microfilm readers. Library users can access the library’s collection of newspapers captured in microform by using digital readers and saving material as image files to a USB flash drive. Burlington newspapers are available in microform at Central, 2nd floor. They include:

The Burlington Gazette 1899-1986
The Burlington Journal 1993-1996
The Burlington Post 1968 -

Burlington History Index

The Burlington History Index is a retrieval tool for the library's non-digitized materials, primarily located in the Burlington History Room at Central Branch. Identification of and access to non-catalogued materials within BPL’s local history collection is available only through this alphabetical index.