Resources for Genealogy and House Researchers
88 South Mountain Avenue, MHC Collection
Looking for a great-grandparent? Want to know when your house was built? Look no further! We’ve got the resources for you.
Researching Your Home's History. Informative booklet by NJ Historic Preservation Office gives good advice on how to go about researching the history of your home.
Interactive Map of Montclair. This is a digital version of the Junior League surveys done in the 1980s. Many houses and businesses in town were included in this survey. Tip: use the search bar to find the house or business and if that structure was included in the survey, you’ll see a little dot on top of the house. Click on that dot and a little box will pop up. Select “View Survey Form” (you may need to click the little arrow on the top right corner of the box to go to the next page to find them). This will have a plethora of information on the building from building date, architecture, history, and why it’s historically significant.
Historic Photos. Depending on the person or structure you’re researching, you may be able to find historic photos online:
You can find digitized photos from the Montclair History Center (MHC) collection here and lantern slides from the MHC collection here.
You can find digitized photos from the Montclair Public Library (MPL) collection here. Tip- when searching using multiple words (i.e. a street address), put the phrase in quotation marks.
City and Phone Directories. Useful in compiling a timeline of who has lived in a house and what their occupation was. Can also be used to find where family members lived while in Montclair. Covers years 1870-1969 (city directories) and 1980-1997 (phone directories).
The city directories from 1870-1929 can be found at the MHC digital collections here.
The city directories and the phone directories for all the years can be found at the MPL digital collections here.
Maps. These are useful for house researchers especially. They can provide an estimate for when a house was built and how the structure has changed over time.
The digitized maps in the MHC collection, which includes 1865, 1872, 1878, 1890 1899, 1906, 1918, 1926, 1928, 1933, and 1934, are here. The 1890, 1906, and 1933 maps are listed as individual pages on the website. The 1899, 1928, 1926, 1928, and 1934 maps are listed as whole books on the website. The 1865 and 1878 maps are very large so in order to see the details, sections of the map are included as separate pages in addition to images of the full map.
The digitized maps in the MPL collection, which included 1881 and 1890, are here. Tip- the Montclair sections in the 1881 map start in Part 2, Page 14. The Montclair sections in the 1890 map start on page 18.
Map of Essex County, New Jersey : with the names of property holders &c. From actual surveys by J.C. Sidney. Published by Hiram A. Belding, 1850. From the Library of Congress’s website. Tip: On the map, Montclair is marked “West Bloomfield” and Upper Montclair is marked “Speertown.”
Map of Essex County, New Jersey : 1874. Published by Matthew Hughes. From the Library of Congress’s website.
Historic Sanborn Map, 1986. A digital set of the 1986 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of the Township of Montclair, available on the town’s website. These maps were prepared historically for fire insurance companies and underwriters.
Redlining Maps. These maps can help researchers get a better idea of specific neighborhoods in Montclair during the 1930s/1940s. Mainly for house research but also useful if you’re interested in where your family lived during that time period. Description of Redlining Maps: the Home Owners' Loan Corporation staff members, using data and evaluations organized by local real estate professionals in each city, assigned grades to residential neighborhoods that reflected their "mortgage security" that would then be visualized on color-coded maps. Neighborhoods receiving the highest grade of "A"--colored green on the maps--were deemed minimal risks for banks and other mortgage lenders when they were determining who should received loans and which areas in the city were safe investments. Those receiving the lowest grade of "D," colored red, were considered "hazardous." The neighborhood's quality of housing, the recent history of sale and rent values, and, crucially, the racial and ethnic identity and class of residents served as the basis of the neighborhood's grade.
Tip: Once you find the street address, click on the area to read a description.
Newark Evening News. The Newark Public Library has been undertaking a new initiative to digitize the Newark Evening News. So far they have the years 1883-1972 digitized on their website.
History of Montclair Township. This book was written by Henry Whittemore in 1894. It is especially helpful for genealogy where the ancestors were more prominent in town.
Montclair's Historic Design Guidelines. Clear and uniform recommendations that preserve the essential character of historic resources throughout Montclair.
Secretary of the Interior’s Guidelines. The SOI’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring and Reconstructing Historic Buildings.
A Brick Pattern Primer. What can bricks tell us about a house?
Articles written about Montclair. Most of these articles were written by MHC staff and board members about Montclair history and structures. Tip: There are some private homes featured here and therefore do not have addresses associated with them.
MHC Blog Posts. MHC staff members, board members, and researchers constantly find new and exciting information related to the history of Montclair. Be sure to check this page for new articles!
Newark Hall of Records. The Newark Hall of records houses property ownership records. This is helpful for residents within the community who are looking to search the property history of their home.
NJ State Archives. A valuable resource for those researching their family history. The archives hold birth and marriage records, census records, land records, military records dating as far back to Colonial Wars, court records and more.
Infant Mortality, Montclair, NJ: A Study of Infant Mortality in a Suburban Community. Conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor in 1915.
Montclair Yearbooks. Both the MHC and the MPL have a plethora of yearbooks from schools around Montclair. See the list above and then contact MHC or the MPL to see the books in person.
The Journal of Clarissa Stoddart. Explore the journey of Clarissa’s travels from England to Cincinnati in the 1830s. The journal also explains the origins of the harp located in the Crane Dining Room of the Crane House & Historic YWCA.
Finding your loved one’s final resting place. Below are some helpful links for finding where you loved one is interred.
1.) FindAGrave.com. As their website says, “The World’s Largest gravesite collection.” Search by name, birthdate, deathdate, and interment location.
2.) Rosedale Cemetery. The largest cemetery in Montclair, many community members have been buried here since its inception in 1840.
3.) Mount Hebron Cemetery. Located in Upper Montclair, this cemetery has many notable Montclairians buried in it since 1863.
4.) Immaculate Conception Cemetery.
Cemeteries outside Montclair: Caldwell Presbyterian Church Yard Cemetery and Bloomfield Cemetery.
History at Home Programs. Starting in 2020, the Montclair History Center began a regular virtual lecture series that covered a range of topics relating to Montclair and NJ history. Check out the MHC YouTube channel here. Below are some video highlights:
Rosedale Cemetery (The New Section and the Old Section).
Montclair Residences in Scientific American (Part 1 and Part 2)
Finding Aids. The Montclair History Center now offers online finding aids that will guide those interested in our library’s holdings from home! The finding aids list available archival materials, books, maps, newspapers, and more. If you find something you’d like to see, contact our staff at mail@montclairhistory.org or call 973-744-1796. Of particular interest to genealogy or house researchers are:
African American History Collection. This is a compilation of various collections on African American history found in the archives including but not limited to the African American Oral History Project (2012-2013), the African American YMCA (1909-1998), and African American Churches (1939-2006).
Deed Collection. This collection contains a variety of deeds, titles, and original documents relating to homes and properties in Montclair.
Vertical Files. This collection contains a large volume of files that pertain to many aspects of Montclair’s rich history including specific people, organizations and groups, as well as the town’s government, committees, and schools.