Local History and Genealogy  |  Introduction

Founders of Leominster Historical Society, ca. 1906

The Library’s Local History and Genealogy Collections offer access to a lot of Leominster history, including information about its establishment and growth, and about its people and how they have lived, worked and played.

Find the answers to questions such as:

1. What were the early days like in what’s now Leominster?
2. How did the community look 100 or more years ago?
3. What are the comb-making and plastics industries, and why were they so important here?

Genealogists can use the published and collected vital records of Leominster to investigate their ancestors’ comings and goings. Town and city directories, some of them on microform, can pinpoint where they lived and worked. Street lists, maps and yearbooks from Leominster High School and the Leominster Hospital School of Nursing might yield other details.

There’s lots more to see and find. The Local History and Genealogy Collections also offer the collected vital records, often to 1850, of many Massachusetts communities. The state’s military records for several wars can be found here, as well as town histories of the Bay State and some of New Hampshire and Connecticut towns.