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The Research Center for Beaver County and Local History is located on the second floor of the Carnegie Free Library in Beaver Falls, PA. It was founded in 1971 by the Beaver County Historical Research and Landmarks Foundation (representing the County Commissioners) and the Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls. It was incorporated in 1981. The mission of the Research Center is to provide a central place for referral, study, research and the preservation of historical and genealogical books and material for the people of Beaver County and anyone else who would like to use it.
The Research Center is a nonprofit Pennsylvania corporation with a voluntary Board of Directors, two part-time staff and a few volunteers who supplement their efforts. Our funds from the county cover only a portion of our expenses. The center is fortunate that the Carnegie Free Library provides the space and utilities of the second floor in the library. Private donations and individual support help to sustain the operation.
The Beaver County Genealogical Society houses many things at the center. This combined with the contents of the Carnegie Free Library's former Pennsylvania Room and diversified material collected from many other sources, has enabled the Research Center to develop one of the most extensive local historical and genealogical collections in the state of Pennsylvania.
The holdings of the center include several thousand books of local historical interest. It also has books from other counties in Pennsylvania and other states of our country. There are many thousands of files containing newspaper clippings and pamphlets concerning local topics, surnames, companies, towns, churches and schools. In the microfilm collection there are the census records and local newspapers dating back to 1830.
The contents of the center also include Beaver County histories as well as histories of other Pennsylvania counties, many maps and historical atlases, old patent land maps of towns and townships showing property owners back into the 18th century. There are recent newspapers on microfilm and the Beaver Argus that goes back to 1830. The center has the Beaver Valley Directories back as far as 1876, cemetery records of Beaver County and other close-by counties, also books of obituaries that have been compiled from newspapers. The surname files include a collection of articles and information on approximately 5750 names, also many family histories in book form.
We have tax record assessments that go back to 1820 of the various townships in the county, tax records of Beaver County from 1841-1850, and other tax records of some townships such as Hanover that begins with 1805 and Green Township tax lists as far back as 1813. Also included and available at the center are Naturalization Records from 1804 to 1900, index to warranty and patent maps, index of Wills from 1901-1925, Orphans' Court index 1804-1897, Marriages 1830-1890 and Death Registrations 1852-1906.
The center has on microfilm early deed indexes, census records for many counties in Pennsylvania and many state census records back to 1790. Other records are on microfiche, including the IGI (International Genealogical Index) files from the Latter Day Saints Morman Church in Salt Lake City, Utah. These include all the states and foreign countries.
You will also find at the center many high school yearbooks - some back as far as 1920 and also Geneva College Yearbooks. Other important records here are Beaver County School Manuals, DAR lineage books, Pennsylvania Archives and Colonial Records.
The center is well supplied with Civil War information such as Bates History of Pennsylvania Volunteers 1861-1865 and the official records of the War of the Rebellion, Military Atlas of the Civil War, many regimental histories, photographic histories, Who Was Who in the Civil War, Roll of Honor and the Index and the Compendium of the War of the Rebellion in three volumes.
In the general files are over 1400 items including bridges, rivers, local businesses, industries, Indians of Beaver County, one-room school houses, transportation, tornadoes, hotels, parks, local sports and much more. Periodicals are kept here such as Milestones, Gleanings, canal magazines, Genealogical and Historical Societies and newsletters.
Much information is available for the time during the early colonial and Indian period - The Indian Wars of Pennsylvania, frontier forts of Western Pennsylvania, Pioneer Sketches, Indian Chiefs of PA, Indian tribes, Indian place names and accounts of people captured by the Indians.
Other military records available are Historical Register of the Continental Army, the PA Line 1776-1783, Indian War Pension Files, Index to Volunteer Soldiers 1784-1811, The War of 1812, Bounty Lands and much more.
The Research Center has many books for sales such as the Beaver County Bicentennial Atlas, Beaver County Church Directories, Beaver County Farm Directory, Beaver County Marriages, Beaver County Schools, Wills of Beaver County and Beaver County Cemeteries. There are many more also.
The center receives letters and telephone calls almost every day from people all over the United States. These people are seeking information about their ancestors who have some connection to Beaver County. Last year (1996) the center recorded a total of 2834 visits. For the first quarter of 1997 there were 269 visits logged and in April of this year there was a total of 306 visits. So far this year (1997), other than local people, visitors have come from Ohio, California, Connecticut, North Carolina, Georgia, Indiana, New York, West Virginia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine and Virginia to the center to do research. Some of these people have relatives here in the county and others come and stay at a motel and spend two or three days at the center.
At the present time, the Research Center needs to improve its financial base which will enable it to upgrade its aging photocopier, microfilm, microfiche reader-printers and to acquire a computer to better organize our operations and improve our level of service to the public. We are now renewing our drive to increase the Research Center's levels of support so that we will be able to continue to help all people who have a common bond and love of history. Many people who come to us from out of the county are impressed with our facility, the amount of material that we have and our willingness to assist them in their endeavors. Our goal is to continue to help people find what they are looking for and to improve service in every way that we possibly can.