Welcome to Scranton Public Library's Local History and Genealogy Wiki. 

 

  

 

We are here to help you with any Local History and Genealogy Questions.  This wiki is intended to keep you informed with what the Scranton Public Library has in its collections.  We also will periodically add new information about books and programs that you may use for Local History and Genealogy.

 

Local History and Genealogy Resources

 

The Scranton Public Library has a wonderful collection of local history and genealogy resources.  We have a collection of local history books written about cities, towns, and events in history about Northeastern PA.  This wiki will let let you know what is new the the local history collection, but also what we have to offer you in our library.

 

Newspapers on Microfilm

 

The library has a large collection of Scranton Newspapers on microfilm.  Our collection of newspaper start in 1866 to the current edition. 

 

Scranton Republican: Nov 1, 1867-Dec.24, 1936-incomplete

Scranton Times: Jan. 1900-Aug 1907; Jan. 1908-Apr. 1908; Sept. 1908- Jun. 24, 2005

Scranton Tribune: Dec. 26, 1936-May, 21, 1990

Scranton Truth: June 5, 1893-Nov. 30, 1894 incomplete; Jul. 7, 1904-Feb. 27, 1915 

Scranton Weekly Republican: Mar. 9, 1866-Apr. 19, 1867; Jan. 5,

1871-1872; 1874-1878; 1884-1890; 1898 

Scrantonian: 1924; May 1938-May 20, 1990

Scrantonian (under Lynett Family): May 27, 1990- on Scranton Times film 

Sunday Sun: July 22, 1990- Sept. 8, 1991

Sunday Times-Scrantonian: May 27, 1990-Feb. 27, 1994

Sunday Times: Mar. 6, 1994-current 

Times-Tribune: Jun. 27, 2005-current

Tribune: (Goodman/Little ownership-see Scranton Tribune)

The Tribune (Lynett Family ownership): May 22, 1990- Jun. 25, 2005

Villager: Jan. 4, 1962- Dec.31, 2003

 

*Also if you own a USB drive, one of our microfilm printers is able to save documents to this port, so you do not have to print out your copies at the library*

 

Genealogy Resources at Scranton Public Library

 

Birth and Death Certificates

 

The Scranton Public Library has birth and death certificates of residents who were born or died in Scranton from 1878- October 1905.  The State of Pennsylvania took over the registration of the birth and death certificates in 1905. 

 

Local History Collection

 

This collection is made up of books, and also vertical files about local history.  The books and vertical files are cataloged on our website.  They contain information about people, places, businesses etc.  The Vertical File collection is quite extensive.  We have an index available that shows what we have in the vertical files, and new files are added regularly.  These files contain clippings, copies, and pamphlets from different business, people ect.  We also have a biography, and photo index that is quite useful.

 

The Biographical Index includes names and page numbers of all the people mentioned in the books listed below.  It is a useful tool, when searching for genealogy, or for projects about important people who lived in the Lackawanna County area in the late 1800's and early 1900's. 

 

Books Indexed

 

Comegys, Cornelius The Mayor's Court of Scranton, 1925

Hayden, Horace Edwin. Genealogical & Family History of Wyoming and Lackawanna Valley's. Volumes 1 & 2., 1906

Hitchcock, Frederick L. History of Scranton.,1914

Murphy, Thomas. History of Lackawanna County., 1928

History of Luzerne, Lackawanna, & Wyoming Counties, 1880

Portrait & Biographical Record, 1897

Stoddard, Dwight J. Prominent Men of Scranton & Wilkes-Barre, 1906

Sutherland, John H. The City of Scranton, PA & Vicinity, & Their Resources, 1894

 

*These texts are in delicate condition.  Some have special copies you may photocopy from, but most don't.  We ask that you use a digital camera for your copy of the resource.*

The Local History Photograph Index is the next great source we have available.  It is in alphabetical order to allow for easy use.

Churches of Lackawanna County

 

Index of Church Archives-Lackawanna County- This is a new resource that we have available on microfilm.  This includes church records from 1937-1942 of Lackawanna County Churches.  This source gives histories of the churches, information about church records, and other information.  This resource is not indexed, and all the churches may not be on this resource, but it is a fascinating piece of local history if you want to know about church history.

 

 

City Directories

 

The Scranton Public Library has a collection of city directories from the City of Scranton.  These directories allow a individual to find out where a person was living during a certain year.  This collection is great for genealogy and family history.  We have half of our collection on microfilm and the other half are in book format. These books are in fragile condition, so we ask that you not photocopy from them. We want to keep these books in good condition for future generations.

 

 

1861-1960- Microfilm copies of the city directories *one note: these are not complete. Some years are missing*

 

1961-present are in book format

 

 

Other Genealogy and Local History Resources

 

Ancestry Library Edition- Available on all of our computers in the library.

Heritage Quest-Available on all of our computers in the library and at home with your Lackawanna County Library Card.

 

Scranton Public Library Genealogy Forms

 

!TRACING YOUR FAMILY HISTORY.doc - Gives information about our local history resources that we give out to our patrons.

 

!Lackawanna County Genealogical Researchers.doc! - These are genealogical researchers who you may contact for additional help searching for your ancestor's.

 

 

Genealogical Research in Northeastern PA

 

For other places to also research local history and genealogy, here is a list of relevent institutions and their addresses and phone numbers.

 

Genealogical Research Society

(physical address)

1100 Main St.

Peckville, PA 18447

(570)383-7661

 

Mailing Address

P.O Box 1

Olyphant, PA 18447

 

Lackawanna County Historical Society

The Catlin House

232 Monroe Ave.

Scranton Pa, 18510

(570)344-3841

 

Wyoming County Historical Society

Harrison St (Corner of Bridge St.)

P.O Box 309

Tunkhannock, Pa 18657

(570)836-5303

 

Wayne County Historical Society

810 Main St.

Honesdale, Pa 18431

(570)253-3240

 

Susquehanna County Historical Society

2 Monument Square

Montrose, Pa 18801

(570)278-1881

 

Pike County Historical Society

The Columns

608 Broad St.

Milford, Pa 18337

(570)296-8126

 

Osterhout Free Library

Central Branch

71 South Franklin St.

Wilkes-Barre, Pa 18701 

 

Reference Requests at the Library

 

You may come into the library at any point and use these resources for free.  All you would need to pay for is the photocopies.  To use our photocopier machines you will need to pay 25 cents/ page. If you are unable to come to the library directly, we can do the research for you.  We ask that you give us exact dates for the information you are looking for and a fee of $25 dollars per search to search for obituaries, city directories and birth and death certificates.  If we do not find the information you requested, we still keep the fee, but will send you information that shows your request was not found.

 

Please send your requests to:

Scranton Public Library

Reference Department

500 Vine St.

Scranton Pa, 18509

refdept@albright.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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