Resource Collections

Directory of Selected
Local History
Research Collections
in Chautauqua County, New York

Chautauqua County Court House Mayville, NY 14757 (County Clerk's Office) Hours: Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm (8:30-4:30, June-Aug) Phone: (716) 753-4331	Chautauqua County records from 1811 to date: land, tax, articles of incorporation, veterans, naturalization, Surrogate's Office (wills), census from 1825-1925, marriages from 1908-1935 and many unique maps. Copying is available. County Clerk's Office 1 North Erie Street, P.O. Box 170 Mayville, NY 14757-0170 (Click here for holdings. )
Chautauqua County Genealogical Society P.O. Box 404 Fredonia, NY 14063 Barker Museum hours: Tues - Sat 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm Tues & Thurs evenings 7-9 pm	A non profit organized, founded in 1977 to promote genealogical research relating to Chautauqua and adjoining counties in New York and northwestern Pennsylvania. Our collection of Family Histories and research materials is located at: Darwin R. Barker Museum 7 Day Street Fredonia New York. Send S.A.S.E. to receive further information and a Membership Application Form. (Click here for holdings)
Chautauqua Institution Smith Memorial Library 21 Miller Ave. P.O. Box 1093 Chautauqua, NY 14722 Phone: (716) 357-6332/6306 Fax: (716) 357-9014 Hours: 9-week summer season: Mon-Sat, 9am-5pm; Sun, 2-4pm Off season: Mon, Wed, Fri: 9:30am-5pm Sat 9:30am-lpm	Collections include various newspapers from 1876 to the present, scrapbooks, diaries, autograph books, oral history tapes, video and lecture tapes, photographs, dissertations, historic register of homes, and histories of other Chautauquas. Copying is available
Fenton History Center 67 Washington St. Jamestown, NY 14701 Phone: (716) 664-6256 Fax: (716) 483-7524 Hours: 10am-4pm, Mon-Sat (appointments suggested for Archives and Photographs)	Collections concentrate on Jamestown and southern Chautauqua County, but cover all of the county and include family history files, a card file for deaths and marriages from 19th century newspapers, printed family genealogies, county census records and indexes, Jamestown city directories, plus manuscript and photograph collections. Admission fee. Copying is available.
Patterson Library 40 South Portage Street Westfield, NY 14787 Phone: (716) 326-2154 Fax: (716) 326-2554 Hours: Winter (Sept 6 - June 15): Mon, Tues, Thurs, 9am-8pm Wed, Fri, Sat, 9am-5pm Summer (June 16 - Sept 5): Tues, Thurs 9am-5pm Mon, Wed, Fri, 9am-8pm Sat, 9am-1pm	Collections include the Westfield Republican from 1855 and other newspapers, state/county/local histories, Holland Land Company records, DAR lineage books, clipping and reference files, family histories, surname and obituary files, county cemetery records, county census records, maps and atlases. Copying is available.
Reed Library Special Collections SUNY College at Fredonia Fredonia, NY 14063 Phone: (716) 673-3183 Fax: (716) 673-3185 Hours: School year: Mon-Fri, 1-5pm Summer: Mon-Fri, l-4pm	The local history collection includes materials relating to Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties, especially U.S. census records (complete through 1840, then local only), NYS census for Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Cos, Seneca Indians, county/local histories/directories, supervisor's reports, family history records, newspapers. The Archives of the Holland Land Company offer insights into the settlement and development of Western New York. There are extensive Seneca Nation records there, and the librarian, Jack Ericson, is a Seneca genealogy expert. Copying is available.

Other Great Places to Visit!

Dunkirk Historical Museum

513 Washington Avenue, Dunkirk, NY 14048
Phone: (716) 366-3797
Hours: Mon-Fri, l0am-4pm

Collections emphasize the history of Dunkirk: its schools, churches, government, business/industry, (especially the Brooks/ALCO locomotive works) and social organizations. These include family history materials, city directories, school yearbooks, local histories, diaries, photographs, and clipping files.

Copying is available.

Chautauqua County Historical Society

P.O. Box 7, Westfield, NY 14787
Phone: (716) 326-2977
Hours: Mon-Tues/Thurs-Sat: 1-5pm
(Winter hours may vary)

2000-volume holdings include: Clayburne Sampson Papers, Elial Foote Papers, Gerald Todd Papers, Civil War Muster Rolls by township, diaries, school records, cemetery transcriptions, county maps, 1855 census (indexed), photographs, and miscellaneous files of county and family histories. No fee to visit library; research and copy services are available.

Darwin R. Barker Museum

7 Day Street, Fredonia, NY 14063
Phone: (716) 672-2114
Hours: Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sat. 2:30pm-4:30pm Thursday, 7pm-9pm

Collections include the Fredonia Censor (1821-1964), U.S. and NYS census records for Chautauqua County from 1850-1925, index to deaths and marriages in the Censor, cemetery records, photographs, manuscripts, many New England genealogies and resources. The library of the Chautauqua County Genealogical Society is also located here. Copying is available. (Click here for holdings)

Please rememlier that a phone call in advance of a visit is always advisable.
Please enclose a SASE with all correspondence.
Several institutions also include museum facilities.
Inquiries are welcome.