Massachusetts Historical Societies

This directory lists 52 historical societies, museums, and archives in Massachusetts, from town societies such as the Historical Society of Old Newbury and the Historical Society of Old Yarmouth to living-history and park sites like Old Sturbridge Village and Lowell National Historical Park. Massachusetts has more surviving local records than almost any state, so the problem is rarely whether a record exists but which office has it.

Settlement began at Plymouth in 1620 and Massachusetts Bay in 1628-1630; the Commonwealth entered the Union on February 6, 1788, still operating under its 1780 constitution. Records are kept at two levels: the town (clerks recorded births, marriages, deaths, land before counties existed, and town meetings) and the county (registries of deeds and probate courts). Massachusetts was the first state to order statewide vital registration, in 1841, though Boston did not join until 1850, and several county governments have since been abolished while their registries and courts carry on.

Featured Historical Societies

Major repositories in Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Archives, 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston (Dorchester), run by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, holds the state copies of vital records for 1841-1935, the surviving 1855 and 1865 state censuses, passenger lists, colonial proprietors' and land-grant papers, and the Massachusetts Archives Collection of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century government records. The Massachusetts Historical Commission, the state's preservation office, shares the building.

• State Library of Massachusetts, State House, Room 341, 24 Beacon Street, Boston: state documents, legislative records and published local histories.
• Massachusetts Historical Society (founded 1791), 1154 Boylston Street, Boston: an independent research library of manuscripts, including the Adams Family Papers; the reading room is open Monday and Wednesday-Friday 9:30-4:45, Tuesday until 7:45 p.m., and Saturday 10-3.
• New England Historic Genealogical Society (American Ancestors), Newbury Street, Boston: a membership library whose databases include Massachusetts vital records, probate and town records; a strong first stop for pre-1850 families.
• Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston Street: indexes to Boston newspapers 1901-1935, a large genealogy reference collection, and the Leventhal Map and Education Center.
• American Antiquarian Society, 185 Salisbury Street, Worcester: Massachusetts newspapers from the 1700s onward and the published index of marriages in the Columbian Centinel, 1784-1840.
• University collections: UMass Amherst Special Collections and University Archives (W.E.B. Du Bois Library, 154 Hicks Way) for western Massachusetts, and Harvard's Houghton Library in Cambridge.

Massachusetts vital records: 1841 and before

Three sets of offices hold Massachusetts births, marriages and deaths, and the split is by date:

• Before 1841: only the town or city clerk recorded events, and the originals are still at the town hall. Most towns' records to 1850 were transcribed and published in the Vital Records to 1850 series (the "Tan Books"), which the state links as a downloadable list, and FamilySearch's Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001 collection is indexed with images.
• 1841-1935: the Massachusetts Archives holds the state copies. Images for 1841-1930 are searchable free online; 1930-1935 are not all digitized, but Archives staff will email images of up to five records at no charge, and certified copies are $3 each.
• After 1935: the Registry of Vital Records and Statistics (Department of Public Health), 150 Mount Vernon Street, Dorchester, issues certified copies: $20 in person, $32 by standard mail request. The town clerk where the event happened also holds a copy for every year, which is often faster for a single record.

Divorces have been filed in the county Probate and Family Court since 1922, and the Registry of Vital Records keeps a statewide divorce index from 1952. Earlier divorces are scattered among the Superior Courts and, for the earliest cases, the Supreme Judicial Court.

Land, deed and probate records

Massachusetts is a state-land state: there were never federal patents here. Colonial land was granted by the General Court to town proprietors, who granted lots to settlers; those proprietors' records are at the Massachusetts Archives and in town halls. Once a town was incorporated the town clerk recorded deeds and mortgages until a county registry existed, and from then on the county Registry of Deeds has been the recorder. There are 21 registry districts, because Berkshire, Bristol, Essex, Middlesex and Worcester counties are each split into two or more districts; the Secretary of the Commonwealth publishes a city/town-to-registry guide. Land under Land Court jurisdiction (registered land) has a certificate of title instead of a simple deed chain, and the registry's Land Court section holds it.

• masslandrecords.com gives free index and image access by registry district, mostly from 1948 forward, with downloadable PDFs.
• FamilySearch's Massachusetts Land Records, 1620-1986 provides browsable images (no index) from the earliest registries; Plymouth Colony deeds run 1632-1701.
• Probate: county probate courts have had exclusive jurisdiction over wills, estates, guardianships and adoptions since 1692; records are at each county's Probate and Family Court, with Plymouth County probate records 1633-1967 imaged on FamilySearch and a Middlesex probate index 1648-1870 on Ancestry.

Newspapers and city directories

Digital Commonwealth, run by the Boston Public Library, aggregates digitized photographs, maps, manuscripts and a historical newspapers dataset from libraries, archives and historical societies across the state; search it by town before anything else. Chronicling America adds free full-text Massachusetts titles. For older papers, the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester holds the deepest run of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Massachusetts newspapers.

• The Boston Public Library's indexes cover Boston newspapers from 1901 to 1935, a period before most papers were digitized.
• The Boston Evening Transcript genealogy column (1895-1963) and the Boston Pilot "Missing Friends" notices for Irish immigrants (1831-1920) are both indexed; the Pilot notices are searchable through American Ancestors.
• Subscription sites (GenealogyBank from 1690, Newspapers.com, NewspaperArchive) are often free through a public library card.
• City directories: ask at the Boston Public Library and the State Library for Boston and mill-city directories, and check Digital Commonwealth, where member libraries have scanned directories for their own towns.

Census, naturalization and statewide indexes

Massachusetts appears in every federal census from 1790. Of the state's own censuses only 1855 and 1865 survive as name schedules; both are indexed free on FamilySearch and on Ancestry and American Ancestors, and they record birthplace and occupation, which makes them good substitutes for the gap between 1850 and 1870 federal counts.

• Naturalization: immigrants could naturalize in any court. A New England petitions index for 1791-1906 (federal and some state courts) and Massachusetts naturalization records 1906-1917 are on FamilySearch; a state and federal set for 1798-1950 is on Ancestry.
• Vital record indexes: besides the Archives' free 1841-1930 images, the Archives' digital records page links a statewide vital records index, and American Ancestors' databases cover 1841-1915 with images.
• Town records beyond vital events, such as warnings out, tax lists and school lists, are at town halls and in the FamilySearch town records collection; they are frequently the only trace of a family between censuses.

Researching a house or building in Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) is the State Historic Preservation Office and keeps the Inventory of Historic and Archaeological Assets of the Commonwealth. Its public database, MACRIS, lets you search by town and street for inventory forms (the "Form B" building surveys that local historical commissions prepared, often with construction dates, architects and owner histories) and for National Register and State Register listings. Many towns have their own historical commission with survey files and photographs, separate from the historical society.

For the deed chain, go to the Registry of Deeds district for your town and work backward through grantor and grantee indexes, then into the proprietors' records if you reach the colonial period; our article on tracing deed history explains the method. Fire insurance maps and ward atlases are unusually good here: the Leventhal Map and Education Center at the Boston Public Library has digitized its map collection and built Atlascope, which overlays historic urban atlases of greater Boston on a modern map, and the Library of Congress Sanborn collection covers many Massachusetts towns. See also how to find when your house was built and researching an old building.

Working with Massachusetts town societies

Nearly every one of the Commonwealth's 351 cities and towns has a historical society, and many also have a municipal historical commission and a town archive; the society typically holds photographs, family papers, maps and cemetery transcriptions, while the town clerk holds the official records. Hours are often one or two afternoons a week, so email first. For a Cape Cod family, for instance, the Historical Society of Old Yarmouth is the local source, while deeds for the same family sit in the Barnstable Registry of Deeds. When you are hunting a burial, town clerks and societies hold cemetery records that never made it online; see finding where someone is buried.

Additional Massachusetts History Resources

• Massachusetts Archives - State archives at 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston; vital records 1841-1935 and state censuses
• Massachusetts Historical Commission - State Historic Preservation Office; National and State Register programs
• MACRIS - Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System: building inventory forms and register listings by town
• masslandrecords.com - Free registry of deeds indexes and images by district
• Digital Commonwealth - Boston Public Library's statewide digital collections, including newspapers and maps
• Massachusetts Historical Society - Independent research library founded 1791, Boston
• American Ancestors (NEHGS) - Genealogical library and databases, Newbury Street, Boston
• Boston Public Library - Central library at Copley Square; newspaper indexes and genealogy reference
• Leventhal Map and Education Center - Digitized historic maps and atlases of Boston and Massachusetts

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get an 1890 Massachusetts birth or death record?

The Massachusetts Archives in Boston holds the state copies for 1841-1935, and the 1841-1930 images are free online through the Archives' digital vital records search. If you cannot find it, Archives staff will email up to five record images at no charge, and certified copies are $3. The town or city clerk where the event occurred also has the original entry.

Where are Massachusetts deeds recorded?

At the county Registry of Deeds for your district. There are 21 registry districts because Berkshire, Bristol, Essex, Middlesex and Worcester counties are each divided into two or more districts. Indexes and images, mostly from 1948 forward, are free at masslandrecords.com; earlier books are at the registry and imaged (unindexed) on FamilySearch.

How do I find a Massachusetts birth before 1841?

Only the town clerk recorded it. Look first in the published Vital Records to 1850 series for the town, then in the FamilySearch collection Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001, which is indexed with images. The original books remain at the town hall.

Did Massachusetts take state censuses?

Yes, but only the 1855 and 1865 schedules survive. Both list every household member with age, birthplace and occupation and are indexed free on FamilySearch. The originals are at the Massachusetts Archives.