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History & Genealogy

Curtis Library History

By Elizabeth C. Pierson

The Curtis Memorial Library at 23 Pleasant Street opened in December 1904, but the history of the library really begins 21 years earlier, in 1883.

It Began with a Letter to the Editor

If an exact date had to be assigned, it would probably have to be Jan. 5 of that year when a letter published in the weekly newspaper The Brunswick Telegraph – and signed only “A Subscriber” – encouraged residents to establish a public library. Although several small private libraries already existed, as did the Bowdoin College library, none met the general needs of the community, particularly at a time when Brunswick was quickly evolving from a farming into a business and manufacturing town.

Brunswick History Links

History of the Public Library in Brunswick

Wheeler & Wheeler's History of Brunswick, Topsham, & Harpswell

Merrymeeting Park

Snow Index to Brunswick Newspapers

Brunswick History in the Library Catalog

Index of city & town directories from 1867 to 1983

Maine History Links

Maine History Resources

Maine Historical Society

Resources at Curtis Memorial Library 1790 Census for Brunswick, Maine
transcribed by library volunteer Judy Husman .

Resources for genealogical research in and near Brunswick, Maine
what's available at the library, and at other sites within a 45-minute drive of Brunswick

Franco-American roots:
Visit our Brunswick-Quebec-France Connections page for links to Quebec genealogy, and more.

Harpswell Information

Martha Croasmun's Harpswell Genealogy Database
Harpswell genealogy information -- births, deaths, marriages -- hosted by Ancestry.com, one of the major online genealogy services. To access this site you must have already registered with Ancestry.com, or give them your name and email address in order to use the site as a guest.

Harpswell Historical Society
Dedicated to the discovery, identification, collection, preservation, interpretation, and dissemination of materials relating to the history of Harpswell and its people.

More Maine Links
Maine Genealogical Society
includes membership and local chapter information; list of Society publications and Maine genealogical links.

Maine Old Cemetery Association
"is dedicated to the preservation of Maine's neglected cemeteries...is preparing its county cemetery records for publication."

Maine State Archives

Maine Resources page
from RootsWeb.

Pejepscot Historical Society
is the local historical society for the Brunswick area.

Genealogical Information by Location
Census Finder
A Directory of Free Census Records

US GenWeb
is a massive collection of data and links assembled by hundreds of volunteers working cooperatively. US GenWeb is organized by geography:

General Genealogy Websites Cyndi's List
ncludes more than 200,000 links, arranged by topic.
Looking for African American or German or Jewish or Hispanic genealogy... or for the best sites for Heraldry or Ship Passenger Lists? Cyndi's List is great place to start for these and dozens of other genealogy topics.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Family History Library:
The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.

RootsWeb
The oldest & largest free genealogy site.

Social Security Death Index
This database is provided by the Social Security Administration and contains over 65 million records on deceased Social Security recipients.

Soundex
Need to find the Soundex code for a name? This page at the National Archives will help.

 

 



Curtis Memorial Library
23 Pleasant Street
Brunswick, Maine 04011
phone (207) 725-5242
fax (207)725-6313
info@curtislibrary.com

direct comments about this page to: curtisweb@curtislibrary.com
www.curtislibrary.com    last updated 9/5/07