Photos
over 7000 indexed photos of local buildings, businesses, industries, events and people from the 1860s to the present.
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High School Yearbooks
near complete sets of yearbooks for both Tonawanda and North Tonawanda High Schools starting in the 1910s to the present. The Society Museum also houses a number of yearbooks for Bishop Gibbons High School.
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City Directories
Tonawanda / North Tonawanda City Directories beginning in 1890 through the 20th Century. The Society Museum also has several Niagara County Directories, the earliest being 1869. A sampling of Buffalo Directories rounds out the collection.
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Newspapers
The Society Museum houses originals and/or microfilm copies of the Tonawandas' two major newspapers - The Tonawanda Herald and The Evening News (later The Tonawanda News). The earliest of these begin in 1877. The collection covers from 1877 through the 1950s. (Since the 1960s, articles of interest have been clipped from the newspapers and filed according to subject by museum volunteers. (WANT TO BE A VOLUNTEER? - write to us))
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Maps
The Society has a large collection of atlases and maps of the Tonawandas, Niagara County, Erie County, New York State, and the world. The earliest local map is from 1837 with many others during the 19th Century. Sanborn Insurance Maps of Tonawanda and North Tonawanda from 1893 through 1950 are also in our collection, showing each building in the Twin Cities.
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Civil War Veterans
a list of all Civil War Veterans with any known connection to the Tonawandas, with a collection of any information known about each.
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WWI Veterans
a list of all local WWI soldiers killed during the Great War with a collection of any information known about each.
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WWII Veterans
a list of all local WWII veterans who served in the War. This data base is currently being assembled
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Cemeteries
Through the efforts of several Society members, the museum has copies of all gravestone inscriptions for the four major Twin City cemeteries - Sweeney Cemetery, Salem Cemetery, St. Francis Cemetery, and the City of Tonawanda Cemetery. The Society also has burial permits for the City of Tonawanda Cemetery and the original burial records for Sweeney Cemetery.
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Church Records
A number of local Church records have been partially transcribed and indexed. These include:
- St Francis Roman Catholic Church
- Salem Evangelical Reformed Church / Salem United Church of Christ
- Broad Street Baptist Church
Obituaries
Dedicated Society members have indexed over 50,000 obituaries from the local newspapers in our collection - spanning from 1877 to the present.
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Tokens
An indexed collection of local advertising tokens has been assembled by a dedicated Society member.
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Census records
US Federal Census records from 1790 through 1920 are available on microfilm for the local area. New York State Census records are not yet available at our site.
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Council Minutes
The Museum houses copies of some City Council minutes for both Tonawanda and North Tonawanda in both hard format and on microfilm.
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Genealogical Research Aids
The Society's Museum houses a vast array of resources which are invaluable to genealogists and others researching family history in the Tonawandas area. Census records (1790 through 1920), local newspapers, church records, cemetery records, maps, an exhaustive obituary index, biographical data, and photos are all available for research work.
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