Local History Resources

The Web is full of fantastic resources for educators, researchers, and fans of historical materials. In New Jersey alone, there are hundreds of cultural heritage institutions with collections of manuscripts, photographs, maps, artifacts, and much more. To start you off on your research journey, here are a number of useful online resources. They are arranged alphabetically by topic.

This list will be updated periodically with additional resources.

Chester Resources

Chester Borough and Chester Township Architectural Surveys: Conducted in the 1980s, these surveys provide detailed architectural information on historical buildings in the Borough and Township. To view the surveys, contact the Local History Librarian at LocalHistory@chesterlib.org.

Chester Historical Society: http://www.historicchesternj.com/

Chester Library’s online genealogy resources (Ancestry.com available in the library)

Community Presbyterian Church of Chester history since 1752.

The Observer-Tribune and its predecessor The Mendham-Chester Tribune: Patrons may access digitized versions of these newspapers dating from 1936-1938 and 1955 to the present on any public computer in the Chester Library. Just click on the Observer-Tribune icon located on the computer desktop to locate PDF files of the paper sorted by year and weekly issue. These individual files are searchable.

Preliminary Report on the Archaeological and Historical Research Conducted on the Black River Park Area: This 1968 report by the American Civilization Institute of Morristown provides detailed site surveys for the following sites: Cooper Mill, Cooper Mill Miller’s House, W.H. Nichols Woolen Factory, Hacklebarney and Gulick Iron Mines, Budd Forge, Hacklebarney Railroad, Ice Houses, Bud Forge Workers’ Houses, Iron Master’s House, Cellar Hole Near Ice Pond, Blacksmith Shop, Cellar Hole at Hacklebarney Road, and Hinds Distillery. To view the report, contact the Local History Librarian at LocalHistory@chesterlib.org.

Sanborn maps of Chester from 1886, 1896, 1901, and 1912: http://library.princeton.edu/libraries/firestone/rbsc/aids/sanborn/morris/chester.html

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund Site Progress Profile for Combe Fill South Landfill: http://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0200489&msspp=med

Vertical Files Collection at the Chester Library.

Morris County Resources

Biographical and Genealogical History of Morris and Sussex Counties (Vols. 1 and 2): http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc1.0022067116, http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc1.0022067159

Historic Price Survey, Morris County Library: http://mclib.info/reference/local-history-genealogy/historic-prices/

Morris County Historical Society: http://www.acornhall.org/

Morris County Library’s New Jersey and Local History Reference page: http://mclib.info/reference/local-history-genealogy/

Morris County Pages, New Jersey and National Historic Register of places (opens a PDF): http://www.nj.gov/dep/hpo/1identify/nrsr_lists/Morris.pdf 

Morristown and Morris Township Library’s North Jersey History and Genealogy Center: http://www.jfpl.org/NJHistoryOurCollections.cfm

Rutgers University Libraries Historical Morris County (maps): http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/Morris/OldMorrisCounty.html

New Jersey Resources

Genealogical Society of New Jersey: http://www.gsnj.org/

Kean University New Jersey History Project: http://libguides.kean.edu/content.php?pid=217247&sid=1806222

Newark Public Library, Charles F. Cummings New Jersey Information Center: https://npl.org/collections-services/charles-f-cummings-new-jersey-information-center/

New Jersey Archives – Early American Sources’ list of archives and research libraries in New Jersey, some of the best places to conduct primary source research in the Garden State. Many have digital collections that are open access, including photographs.

New Jersey Historical Society: http://www.jerseyhistory.org/

New Jersey Historic Preservation Office: http://www.nj.gov/dep/hpo/

New Jersey Room at Jersey City Free Public Library: http://www.jclibrary.org/departments/new-jersey-room

New Jersey State Society of the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution: http://www.njdar.org/

New Jersey Digital Highway: http://njdigitalhighway.org/index.php

New Jersey State Archives’ searchable collections: https://www.nj.gov/state/archives/index.html

New Jersey State Library’s Genealogy and Local History page: http://www.njstatelib.org/research_library/collections/genealogy_and_local_history/

New Jersey Women’s History: http://www.njwomenshistory.org/

Rutgers University Libraries Special Collections and University Archives: http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/libs/scua/scua.shtml

U.S. National Resources

Bureau of Economic Analysis: www.bea.gov/

Bureau of Justice Statistics: http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm

Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://stats.bls.gov/

Bureau of Transportation Statistics: https://www.bts.gov/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/

Central Intelligence Agency (Library): https://www.cia.gov/library

Department of Homeland Security: http://www.dhs.gov/

Early American Sources – Information on archives and research libraries that hold collections of early American materials and provide links to online resources that specialize in the early Americas. Resources include: Archival Sources, Digital Sources, Published Sources, and Fellowships.

Federal Emergency Management Agency: http://www.fema.gov/

Federal Judicial Center (History of the Federal Judiciary): http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf

Internal Revenue Service Tax Statistics: http://www.irs.gov/uac/Tax-Stats-2

Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/index.html

Mine Safety and Health Administration (Library): https://web.archive.org/web/20160319200508/http://arlweb.msha.gov/TRAINING/LIBRARY/library.htm

National Archives and Records Administration: http://www.archives.gov/index.html

National Map: http://nationalmap.gov/

National Center for Education Statistics: https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/

National Museum of African American History and Culture: http://nmaahc.si.edu/

National Museum of American History: http://americanhistory.si.edu/

National Museum of Natural History: http://www.mnh.si.edu/

National Museum of the American Indian: http://nmai.si.edu/

National Postal Museum: http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/index.html

Naval History & Heritage Command: http://www.history.navy.mil/

NOAA History: http://www.history.noaa.gov/

Selective Service System (history): http://www.sss.gov/HIST.HTM

Social Security Administration Office of Research Evaluation and Statistics: http://www.ssa.gov/policy/about/ORES.html

Transcriptions of historic American documents: http://www.ushistory.org/documents/index.html

U.S. Air Force History: http://www.airforce.com/learn-about/history/

U.S. Army Center of Military History: http://www.history.army.mil/

U.S. Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/

U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Resource Service: http://www.ers.usda.gov/

U.S. Geological Survey: http://www.usgs.gov/

U.S. Secret Service (history): http://www.secretservice.gov/about/history/

U.S. Supreme Court: http://www.supremecourt.gov/

Other Resources for Educators

American Historical Association: http://www.historians.org/teaching-and-learning

Federal Registry for Educational Excellence: https://web.archive.org/web/20160106185448/http://www2.ed.gov/free/index.html

Federal Reserve Education: http://www.federalreserveeducation.org/

History Matters, Making Sense of Advertisements: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/ads/

History Matters, Making Sense of Maps: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/maps/

Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History: http://www.gilderlehrman.org/programs-exhibitions/for-educators

NASA History for Kids: http://history.nasa.gov/kids.html

National Center for History in the Schools: http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/

National Council for History Education: http://www.nche.net/

National Council for the Social Studies: http://www.socialstudies.org/

National History Day: https://www.nhd.org/

National History Education Clearinghouse: http://teachinghistory.org/

National Parks Service, Teaching with Museum Collections Lesson Plans: http://www.nps.gov/history/museum/tmc/tmc_links.html

Presidents of the United States: https://web.archive.org/web/20150217020532/http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents

Society for History Education: http://www.societyforhistoryeducation.org/

Stanford History Education Group: http://sheg.stanford.edu/rlh

USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (lesson plans): https://www.nass.usda.gov/Education_and_Outreach/

U.S. Mint (lesson plans): http://www.usmint.gov/kids/teachers/