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The Life From The Roots blog topics have changed several times since I began this blog in 2009. I initially wrote only about the family history I had been working on for 20 years. Years later, I was into visiting gardens, historical homes, churches, libraries that had genealogical collections, historical societies, war memorials, and travel/tourism places. I also enjoy posting autographs and photos of famous people I've met or have seen.

Along with my New England roots, other areas include New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada.

Please check out the labels on the right side for topics (please note, they need work). Below the labels and pageviews is a listing of my top nine posts, according to Google. Four of them pertain to Lowell, MA. These posts change often because they are based on what people are reading.

Friday, December 14, 2018

Georgetown Peabody Library, Georgetown, Massachussetts

Georgetown Peabody Library
2 Maple Street
Georgetown, Massachusetts

The original library was built in 1866, a new addition in 1904, and the newest addition was completed in 2007. I included a map of this library, since you wouldn't normally pass by it. I should also mention that the Newbury, Massachusetts library is just up the road. I will report on that next.
The entrance is on the side. There is plenty of parking.

Side entrance view, with reception area at the left.

I love libraries that incorporate part of their older library. The above photo shows part of the old exterior wall. The rest of the wall is below.

It wasn't hard to find the History Room. The reference librarian sits nearby and she came in to answer some of my questions. There were many familiar books to me, and a few for the Georgetown area. I did ask about a listing of cemeteries. She pulled one book, which is shown below.






I didn't see this listed in www.WorldCat.org, so I'm not sure if you'll be able to find it. However, I found Union Cemetery  The Preservation Plan for 2008, and it's online. If you are interested in this Cemetery, you might find some useful information. In addition, I plan to call the Historic Commission after the holidays and inquire about it.
I thought the Roster above might be useful for researchers.

The Essex Antiquarian books may be found in many New England Libraries and online. The author made a copy for this book.

I thought these three Vital Records books were for each event; such as birth, marriage and death. However, they are duplicates. Since I have the Kilborn line in Georgetown, I was able to look it up.

The Library's website lists "Items in the Local History Room." The list and other information is below.

Items in the Local History Room include:
  • Georgetown Annual Reports (1842 – present)
  • Newspapers:
    • Georgetown Advocate (1874 – 1899)
    • The Enterprise (1964 – 1965)
    • The Georgetown News (1962 – 1966)
    • The Georgetown Weekly (1978 – 1983)
    • Georgetown Record (1982 – present)
  • Georgetown High School Yearbooks
  • Georgetown Street Lists
  • Historic Properties Surveys
  • Massachusetts Contingency Plans
We’ve added online digital collections from the Local History Room including the Georgetown Annual Reports & Georgetown Newspapers and the Georgetown High School Yearbooks. This digital library project is designed to make historical collections relating to the town of Georgetown, Massachusetts, more easily accessible online to the public. It is a work in progress!
From the 2nd floor, looking at the old wall, and new area.

Below are photos of the original library. I'm so glad I discovered this area, as this is where I would have loved to read.



Small reading room, with magazine racks and three panes of the old building windows.
Nice reading room, with computers.

Children's room on the 1st floor.



The Georgetown Historical Society has a informative website.


Salisbury Public Library, Salisbury, Massachusetts

Salisbury Public Library
17 Elm Street
Salisbury MA 01952
978-465-5071


http://www.salisburylibrary.org/
Main floor and reception desk (below).




Stairs to the 2nd floor.

Lots of space, with good lighting. Straight ahead is a small meeting room that houses the Massachusetts vital records books (tan books).
The above interior window is from the original library.

Book stacks and reference desk. The Reference librarian walked us up and was most helpful. I actually took her away from making a Christmas tree of books.
I asked about reference material for genealogists, and she showed me this binder with a listing of burials in Salisbury, Amesbury and Merrimack in Essex Co., Massachusetts.
Other information.
The best resource is their online site of holdings, as shown by their computer screen. At home, I pulled it up, and copied it (with live links), shown below.

Young adults room. Love the color.

From the back door, you can see the town common.

The Library is new, opened to the public in October 2015 is the newest  library I've visited. Just a few items were saved from the old library that was on this same site, which was was built in 1956. For professional photos, see their link. http://www.salisburylibrary.org/new-library.html


Some of the holdings in our special collections include:

​Vital Records of several Massachusetts cities and towns to the year 1850 including Salisbury.
Local family genealogies and local history books.
Salisbury Town Reports from selected years dating 1872-2001.
Pike Family Association Files and PFA Allan Pike Files. Finding aid kept at the reference desk.

​Visit our Special Collections Images page to see photographs that have been scanned to our digital collection.