Local History & Genealogy

Research

The library has a local history/genealogy collection covering Marlborough history, genealogies of some prominent local families, and the Marlborough Enterprise on microfilm from 1889 to the present.

Please email our Reference Department, 508-624-6900, ext. 3, or use the form on this page, to make an appointment to access our archives or to determine if our collection can help you in your search.

Archival Materials

The following is a list of just some of the items of interest that we have in our archives collection. Please contact the reference department if you would like to view any of these materials or to see what else we might have in our collection.

  • History of the Town of Marlborough, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, From Its First Settlement in 1657 to 1861 by Charles Hudson (ARC 974.44 HUD): Charles Hudson was a Marlborough native, a writer, and a United States Representative from Massachusetts.
  • Historical Reminiscences of the Early Times in Marlborough, Massachusetts by Ella Bigelow (ARC 974.44 BIG): Provides information about the people and places of early Marlborough. The original book did not have an index, but one was compiled by Marlborough Historical Society member Gene Schneider and is available in the archive collection.
  • Cemetery Transcriptions prepared by Ginny and Katie Chung in 2001 (ARC 974.44 CEM):
    • Volume 1, Marlborough: Brigham, Old Common, Robin Hill, Rock Lawn, Spring Hill, Weeks and Wilson
    • Volume 2, Sudbury, Wayland: 1st Cemetery, Revolutionary, Mt. Pleasant, Old Town, North Sudbury Old, North Sudbury New, Wayland South, Natick, Wadsworth
    • Volume 3, Hudson: Hudson Main
  • Marlborough, Massachusetts, Burial Ground Inscriptions: Old Common, Spring Hill, and Brigham Cemeteries by Franklin P. Rice (ARC 974.44 RIC): Published 1908.
  • Vital Records to 1850 (ARC 310): Provides birth, death and marriage data for area town including Marlborough, Framingham, Northborough, Shrewsbury, Southborough, Sudbuty, and Westborough.
  • Genealogies of Individual Families (ARC 9929 ALL to 929 WOO): Provides information about a number of local families.
  • Marlborough City Directories (ARC 974.44 MAR): Provides a list of inhabitants and businesses. Cover 1867 to 1961 with some missing volumes.
  • Voter Lists - Marlborough Ward Lists (ARC 974.44 MAR): Organized by Ward address.
  • Marlborough List of Residents (ARC 974.44 MAR): Organized alphabetically by last name.
  • High School Yearbooks:
    • Marlborough High School (ARC 974.44 MAR). Thanks to Boston Public Library, our Marlborough High School yearbooks have been digitized and are available for viewing and downloading on the Internet Archive. There are 62 Marlborough High yearbooks in total, spanning from 1927-2019. View yearbooks online.
    • Assabet Regional Vocational High School (ARC 974.44 ASS)
  • The Marlborough Enterprise: This local paper is an excellent source of regional news and obituaries.
    • On microfilm: December 1889 to Summer 2022.

History of the Marlborough Public Library

Thanks to the Marlborough Historical Society for their assistance in developing the History of the Marlborough Public Library (PDF) in commemoration of the 350th anniversary of the founding of Marlborough.

Living History: The Marlborough Public Library from WMCT-TV on Vimeo.

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