New Jersey Historical Societies

This directory lists 3 historical societies, museums, and archives in New Jersey. The cards below give each organization's location and website, and the guide that follows explains where the state's records actually live, because in New Jersey the answer is split between Trenton, the 21 county seats, and a handful of large libraries in Newark and New Brunswick.

New Jersey became an English colony in 1664 and was run as two separate proprietary colonies, East Jersey and West Jersey, until they were united under royal government in 1702; the proprietors' land records from both halves survive. The state ratified the Constitution on December 18, 1787 as the third state. Two facts shape every research plan here: New Jersey's federal census schedules for 1790, 1810, and 1820 are lost (1800 survives only for Cumberland County), and in 1848 it became the second state to require statewide birth, marriage, and death registration, so civil vital records start far earlier than in most of the country.

Featured Historical Societies

Major repositories in New Jersey

The New Jersey State Archives, 225 West State Street, 2nd floor, Trenton, holds more than 57,000 cubic feet of records and 32,000 reels of microfilm from 1664 to the present: vital, land, and probate records filed centrally by the province and state, military service papers, and county and municipal records. It is open by appointment, with walk-ins admitted if space allows. Its searchable databases index more than 1.5 million documents. Start at nj.gov/state/archives and read the genealogical collections page before you visit.

• New Jersey State Library, 185 West State Street, Trenton, a few doors from the Archives. Its Jerseyana collection, city directories, newspapers, and state publications (session laws, annual reports, legislative histories) complement the Archives, and its JerseyClicks program gives New Jersey residents free remote access to HeritageQuest. njstatelib.org
• New Jersey Historical Society, 52 Park Place, Newark. Founded in 1845; the library is open Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m., by appointment, with a $7 research fee for non-members. jerseyhistory.org
• Rutgers Special Collections and University Archives, lower level of Alexander Library, New Brunswick. The Sinclair New Jersey Collection (about 70,000 monographs, pamphlets, and serials) is the largest body of New Jersey printed material in the state, and the New Jersey Manuscripts Collection holds more than 2,200 collections. Open by advance appointment, Tuesday through Thursday. libraries.rutgers.edu
• Charles F. Cummings New Jersey Information Center, Newark Public Library, 5 Washington Street. Strong on northern New Jersey directories, newspapers, and microfilm of every surviving federal and state census for the state. npl.org

New Jersey vital records

Statewide registration began on May 1, 1848, though early returns are incomplete and general compliance came only around 1920. Custody is split by date:

• State Archives: births from May 1848 through December 1925, and marriages and deaths from May 1848 through December 1950. Staff will do mail searches, or you can use the microfilm room in person. Online databases cover all marriages 1848-1900 and deaths from May 1848 to December 1900. Marriages for 1951-1957 and deaths for 1951-1965 can be searched in person.
• Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, New Jersey Department of Health (walk-in center at 140 East Front Street, Trenton): records for the most recent 100 years. A request qualifies as genealogical only if the person is deceased and the birth was more than 80 years ago (through 1925), the marriage more than 50 years ago (through 1951), or the death more than 40 years ago (through 1951). Rules: nj.gov/health/vital.
• Before 1848: no births were filed at any level of government except the records of births of children of enslaved mothers filed with county clerks from 1804. Marriages were supposed to be filed with the County Clerk from 1795, and the Archives holds the Colonial Marriage Bonds database for 1711-1795 plus original returns for Atlantic, Burlington, Cumberland, Essex, Mercer, Somerset, Sussex, and Union counties.
• Divorces: heard by the Court of Chancery through 1947. The Archives has a printed guide to cases from 1743-1850 and matrimonial indexes on microfilm for 1939-1948; later files are with the Superior Court Records Information Center.

Land, deed, and property records

New Jersey is a proprietary (state-land) state. The Proprietors of East Jersey (Perth Amboy) and West Jersey (Burlington) sold the original tracts, and their surveys, deeds, and minutes are at the State Archives, which is building an online index to Early Land Records, 1650-1900s. Between 1664 and 1785 transfers between individuals were recorded by the Secretary of State in Perth Amboy or Burlington; those volumes moved to Trenton in 1795. The Archives warns that fewer than half of all colonial land transactions were ever recorded as deeds.

• The Land Act of 1785 moved deed recording to the counties. In most counties the County Clerk keeps the deed books and grantor-grantee indexes, which start in 1785; in a few, Essex among them, the office is a separately elected Register of Deeds and Mortgages. Ask for the county's online land records search, which many clerks now offer.
• County clerks began recording mortgages in 1766, and the Archives holds an index to county loan office mortgages covering Burlington, Hunterdon, Gloucester, and Somerset counties.
• Lis pendens files (title disputes) exist for all counties from about the mid-1800s and often list every heir of a deceased owner.
• Tax ratables for 1768-1822, filed with the Assembly and held by the Archives, name landholders by township and serve as a substitute for the lost early censuses.

Our article on tracing a property's deed history explains how to work a grantor-grantee index backward.

Newspapers and city directories

The New Jersey Digital Newspaper Project, a partnership of Rutgers University Libraries, the State Archives, and the State Library funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, ran from 2016 to 2023 and put roughly 100,000 pages of New Jersey papers published between 1836 and 1922 on the Library of Congress's free Chronicling America site, including the Bridgeton Pioneer, Jersey City News, and Perth Amboy Evening News. Project details: collections.libraries.rutgers.edu.

For Newark and Essex County, the Newark Public Library has put the Newark Evening News (1883-1972) and the Sunday Call (1872-1946) online and keeps an inventory of every New Jersey newspaper on microfilm. Its city directories through 1964 are on digital.npl.org, and the State Library and Rutgers hold directory runs for other cities. See our city directory guide for how to use the reverse street listings when you are researching an address.

Census, military, and statewide indexes

• Federal census: 1790, 1810, and 1820 are lost for New Jersey; 1800 survives only for Cumberland County; most of 1890 burned, with only Hudson County fragments left. The Archives has the special (non-population) schedules for 1820-1890 on microfilm.
• State censuses: taken every ten years from 1855 to 1915. The 1855, 1865, and 1875 returns are incomplete, with some counties held by other repositories. The Archives offers a searchable database for Atlantic and Passaic counties in 1885, the complete 1895 census is on Ancestry, and the 1885, 1905, and 1915 indexes are on FamilySearch. 1915 was the last state census.
• Statewide databases: the Archives' online portal indexes more than 2.35 million entries, with current work focused on 1848-1878 deaths, early land records, and Supreme Court case files.
• Military: the Archives holds the state's military service papers; the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and later state records are described in its genealogical collections guide.
• Tax ratables, 1768-1822: the best census substitute for the colonial and early national period, arranged by county and township.

Researching a house or building in New Jersey

The State Historic Preservation Office is the Historic Preservation Office of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (dep.nj.gov/hpo). It administers both the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and the National Register program for the state and publishes county-by-county lists of listed properties and districts; nomination forms describe construction dates, builders, and alterations. Many New Jersey towns also have a municipal historic preservation commission with its own survey files, so ask at the municipal building.

• Establish the deed chain at the County Clerk or Register of Deeds and Mortgages, then check the tax ratables and the 1855-1915 state censuses to see who was on the land.
• Sanborn fire insurance maps for New Jersey cities and towns are available free through the Library of Congress and show building footprints and materials from the 1880s onward.
• Lis pendens files at the county clerk's office can supply the heirs of a prior owner when a will cannot be found.

Read how to find out when your house was built and how to research an old building for the full method, and how to find where someone is buried for the families who lived there.

Working with New Jersey's local societies

New Jersey is organized into 21 counties and more than 500 municipalities, and historical societies follow the municipal pattern: most are town or township societies rather than county ones, and many meet in a historic house with hours of a few afternoons a month. Most counties also have a cultural and heritage office or county historian who can tell you which local society holds a given town's records. Write ahead with the exact municipality and years, and ask whether the society has indexed the local newspaper or the church registers, since those are rarely online. Plan Trenton (State Archives and State Library, on the same street) as one trip, and Newark or New Brunswick as another.

Additional New Jersey History Resources

• New Jersey State Archives - State archives in Trenton; vital records from 1848, colonial land records, state censuses
• Genealogical Collections at the State Archives - Detailed guide to vital, census, land, and military holdings
• Office of Vital Statistics and Registry - Department of Health office for the most recent 100 years of vital records
• Genealogical Records Rules (NJ Department of Health) - Who qualifies for a genealogical copy and how to apply
• New Jersey Historic Preservation Office - State Historic Preservation Office; New Jersey and National Register listings
• New Jersey State Library - Jerseyana collection, city directories, and state publications in Trenton
• New Jersey Historical Society - Newark library and archives founded in 1845
• Rutgers Special Collections and University Archives - Sinclair New Jersey Collection and New Jersey manuscripts
• New Jersey Digital Newspaper Project - Newspapers 1836-1922 digitized for Chronicling America
• Charles F. Cummings New Jersey Information Center - Newark Public Library genealogy, directories, and newspapers

Frequently Asked Questions

Why can't I find my New Jersey ancestor in the 1790 to 1820 census?

New Jersey's federal census schedules for 1790, 1810, and 1820 are lost, and 1800 survives only for Cumberland County. Use the tax ratables for 1768-1822 at the State Archives, which list taxpayers by township, along with county deed and mortgage indexes and the proprietors' land records.

Where do I order a New Jersey birth record from the early 1900s?

The New Jersey State Archives in Trenton holds births from May 1848 through December 1925, and marriages and deaths through December 1950, and will search them by mail. The Department of Health's Office of Vital Statistics and Registry keeps only the most recent 100 years and refers older requests to the Archives.

Who records deeds in New Jersey?

Since the Land Act of 1785 the County Clerk has recorded deeds in most counties; a few counties, such as Essex, have a separate Register of Deeds and Mortgages. Deeds before 1785 were recorded by the Secretary of State and are at the State Archives, which notes that fewer than half of colonial land sales were ever recorded.

Are old New Jersey newspapers online for free?

Yes, partly. The New Jersey Digital Newspaper Project placed about 100,000 pages from 1836-1922 on Chronicling America, and the Newark Public Library offers the Newark Evening News (1883-1972) and Sunday Call (1872-1946) online. For other towns check the Newark library's statewide microfilm inventory and the State Library.