Bronx County, New York Guide

Bronx County lies north of Manhattan, across the Hudson River. It is bordered on the west by the Hudson River, on the east by Long Island Sound, and on the north by Westchester County. With a land area of 42.03 square miles, the Bronx is the only part of New York City on the United States mainland.

County Formed: 1914

Borough Formed: 1898

Parent County: New York County (areas previously in Westchester County)

Daughter Counties: None

Major Land Transactions: Fordham Manor 1671; Pelham Manor 1687; Morrisania Manor 1697

 

Bronx County Map
Map of Bronx County

Table of Contents

 

 

History

On January 1, 1898 the Annexed District of New York City (the area north of the Harlem River) became the borough of the Bronx. It was part of New York County until January 1, 1914 when the Bronx became the 62nd and last county in the state to be organized. 

In the 19th century, a wave of German immigrants moved to the Morrisania area of the Bronx; from the 1890s to the early 1900s a wave of Italian immigrants moved to the Belmont area. Meanwhile, Eastern European Jews also immigrated to the south Bronx to escape persecution and pogroms. There was a period of development in the Bronx from the 1890’s to 1920 in an effort to make Bronx County more like Manhattan. The Grand Concourse was constructed from 1902 to 1909 with apartments built along it. Subways were built to connect the Bronx to Manhattan.

The Encyclopedia of New York State, 213-217.

 

 

Repositories, Resources and Societies – County

 

Bronx County Clerk

Address: 851 Grand Concourse, Room 118, Bronx, NY 10451

Phone: (866) 797-7214

 

Bronx County Surrogate’s Court

Website: Bronx County Surrogate’s Court

Address: 851 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10451

Phone: (718) 618-2300

 

Office of the City Register: Borough of the Bronx

Website:Office of the City Register: Borough of the Bronx

Address: Bronx Business Center, 1932 Arthur Avenue, Third Floor, Bronx, NY 10457

Phone: (718) 579-6820  

 

Board of Elections, Bronx Borough Office

Website: Board of Elections, Bronx Borough Office

Address: 1780 Grand Concourse, Fifth floor, Bronx, NY 10457

Phone: (718) 299-9017 

 

Bronx County Archives 

Website: Bronx County Archives (BCA)

Address: 3313 Bainbridge Avenue, Bronx, NY 10467

Email: librarian@bronxhistoricalsociety.org

 

Bronx County Historical Society 

Website: Bronx County Historical Society (BCHS)

Address: 3309 Bainbridge Avenue, Bronx, NY 10467

Phone: (718) 881-8900

Email: administration@bronxhistoricalsociety.org  

 

Bronx Borough Historian

Address: Bronx County Historical Society; 3309 Bainbridge Avenue, Bronx, NY 10467

Phone: (718) 881-8901

 

New York Public Library—The Bronx

Address: Bronx Library Center; 310 East Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, NY 10458

Phone: (718) 579-4257

 

 

Repositories, Resources, and Societies – Local

 

Fordham University Library: Archives and Special Collections

Website: Fordham University Library: Archives and Special Collections

Address: Walsh Library at Rose Hill, Bronx, NY 10458

Phone: (718) 817-3560 

 

Lehman College: Leonard Lief Library Special Collections

Website: Lehman College: Leonard Lief Library Special Collections

Address: 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468

Phone: (718) 960-8603 

 

City Island Historical Society/City Island Nautical Museum & Library

Website: City Island Historical Society/City Island Nautical Museum & Library

Address: 190 Fordham Street, PO Box 82, City Island, NY 10464

Phone: (718) 885-0008

Email: CIHS@cityislandmuseum.org, info@cityislandmuseum.org  

 

East Side Settlement House Archives

Website: East Side Settlement House Archives

Address: Columbia University, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Butler Library, 6th Floor

East 535 West 114th Street, New York, NY 10027

Phone: (212) 854-5590

Email: rbml@libraries.cul.columbia.edu  

 

Huntington Free Library

Website: Huntington Free Library

Address: 9 Westchester Square, Bronx, NY 10461-3583

Phone: (718) 829-7770

Email: info@huntingtonfreelibrary.org

 

Kingsbridge Historical Society 

Website: Kingsbridge Historical Society (KHS)

Address: Peter Ostrander c/o Kingsbridge Historical Society

426 W 259 Street, Bronx, NY 10471

Email: thomasxcasey@yahoo.com

 

Morris High School Museum

Address: Morris High School Campus; 1100 Boston Road, Bronx, NY 10456

Phone: (718) 542-3700

 

 

Cival, Public, and Vital Records

Civil Records are those created, recorded and/or maintained by a governmental body and include births, marriages, deaths, censuses, property, and probate. 

 

For a detailed guide to finding vital records (births, marriages, and deaths) from the Bronx, please see Harry Macy Jr.'s article, "New York City Vital Records."

 

 

Federal Census Records

Population schedules: 1790-1940 (except 1890).

Online at Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, and Findmypast.com (free to NYG&B members).

Access on Findmypast:

1790

1800

1810

1820

1830

1840

1850

1860

1870

1880

1900

1910

1920

1930

1940

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

State Census Records

  • County originals at the Bronx County Historical Society: 1915, 1925. State originals at the NYSA: 1915, 1925
  • For census records for the Bronx before 1915, see New York and Westchester counties.
  • Microfilm at the FHL, NYPL, NYSHA, and NYSL
  • Many years are online at FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com.

 

 

Online Sources

 

General Resources

Ancestry.com

There are vast numbers of records on Ancestry.com that pertain to people who have lived in New York State. A search of the online card catalog by county may reveal lesser known resources that pertain to a locality, such as town records, abstracts, transcriptions, city directories, and local histories.

FamilySearch.org

FamilySearch has extensive collections of New York records, including religious records, which are searchable by name and location, but not by county.

NYGenWeb Project: Bronx County

Part of the national, USGenWeb volunteer initiative, the website provides information and resources for county research.

 

Deaths and Burial Records

 

Military Records

 

Religious Records

 

Other Records

Ethnic Groups and Organizations

 

Maps

Transportation

 

 

Selected Bibliography

Abstracts, Indexes & Transcriptions

  • Beers, J. B., & Co. County Atlas of Westchester, New York. New York, 1872. Includes maps of Fordham, Morrisania, Riverdale, Tremont, West Farms, Woodlawn, and the Town of Westchester that were then part of Westchester County. [NYPL Digital Gallery]
  • Bronx County Historical Society Journal. Bronx County Historical Society, 1964–present. www.bronxhistoricalsociety.org
  • Bronx County Historical Society Journal 25 Year Index, 1964–"1988. New York: Bronx County Historical Society, 1991.
  • Comfort, Randall. History of Bronx Borough, City of New York. New York: North Side News Press, 1906. Book includes information on indigenous people and their place names, first white settlers, development of the Bronx and Westchester, Revolutionary War, transportation, geographical features, architecture, churches, institutions, clubs, parks, industry, law, education, and biographical sketches of prominent people.
  • Cook, Harry Tecumseh. The Borough of the Bronx, 1639–1913: Its Marvelous Development and Historical Surroundings. New York: The Author, 1913. Book includes information on early settlement, Revolutionary War, industries, transportation, parks, geographical features, prominent people (including the Van Cortlandts), churches, clubs, education, and local legends.
  • Edsall, Thomas H. History of the Town of Kings Bridge, Now Part of the 24th Ward  of New York City. New York, 1887.
  • Fluhr, George J. A. The Bronx Through the Years: A Geography and History. New York: Aidan Press, 1964.
  • Gonzalez, Evelyn Diaz. The Bronx. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
  • Hibbitts, Megan. 2007. “Treasures of The Bronx: The Bronx County Historical Society’s Archives.” Metropolitan Archivist, vol. 12, no. 2 (2007): 15–16, 22.
  • Historical Records Survey. Inventory of the Borough Archives of the City of New York, No. 1, Bronx County. New York: Work Projects Administration, 1942. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Historical Records Survey. Inventory of the County Archives of the City of New York, No. 1, Bronx County. New York: Work Projects Administration, 1940. [NYG&B eLibrary]
  • Hufeland, Otto. A Check List of Books, Maps, Pictures, and Other Printed Matter Relating to the Counties of Westchester and Bronx. White Plains, NY: Westchester County Historical Society, 1929.
  • Jenkins, Stephen. The Story of the Bronx: From the Purchase Made by the Dutch from the Indians in 1639 to the Present Day. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1912. Includes information on transportation, communication, churches, cemeteries, colonial and Revolutionary history, and locations.
  • McAuley, Kathleen A. The Bronx. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Pub., 2010. Book is primarily pictorial, part of the Then & Now series.
  • McNamara, John. History in Asphalt: The Origin of Bronx Street and Place Names,  the Bronx, New York City. New York: Bronx County Historical Society, 1996.
  • Mellick, Harry C.W. The Manor of Fordham. New York: Fordham University Press,1950.
  • Munch, Janet Butler. Bibliography of the Bronx. New York: Bronx County Historical Society, 1974.
  • New York Historical Resources Center. Guide to Historical Resources in Bronx County, New York, Repositories. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1988.
  • Nico, Elizabeth, Gary Hermalyn, and Laura Tosi.Ethnic Groups in the Bronx: Selected Bibliographies from the Collections of the Bronx County Historical Society. New York: Bronx County Historical Society, 2013.
  • Rand-McNally. New Standard Map of the Borough of Bronx. 1903. [NYPL Digital Gallery]
  • Sartain, Dorthea, and Peter Derrick. Guide to the Collections of the Bronx County Archives. New York: Bronx County Historical Society, May 2007.
  • Scharf, J. Thomas. History of Westchester County, New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, Which Have Been Annexed to New York City. 2 vols.Philadelphia: L. E. Preston & Co, 1886.
  • Sgambettera, Mark. Newspaper Titles of the Bronx. New York: Bronx County Historical Society, 2007.
  • Tieck, William. Riverdale, Kingsbridge, Spuyten Duyvil, New York City: A Historical Epitome of the Northwest Bronx. Old Tappan, NY: Fleming H. Revell, 1968.
  • Tosi, Laura. Media Collection: The Audio & Visual Collections of the Bronx County Historical Society Research Library. Edited by Gary Hermalyn. New York: Bronx County Historical Society, 2007.
  • Tosi, Laura. Microfilm and Microfiche Collection of the Bronx County Historical Society Research Library. Edited by Gary Hermalyn. The Bronx County Historical Society, 2005.
  • Tosi, Laura, and Frank Wilmot. The Bronx In Print: An Annotated Catalogue of Books, Dissertations, Pamphlets, Scripts and Manuscripts About the Bronx. Edited by Gary Hermalyn and Kathleen A. McAuley. 5th edition. New York: Bronx County Historical Society and New York Public Library, 2006.
  • Tosi, Laura, and Gary Hermalyn. Article Titles and Contributing Authors of The Bronx County Historical Society Journal, 1964–2006. New York: Bronx County Historical Society, 2007.
  • Tosi, Laura, Janet Butler Munch, and Gary Hermalyn. Genealogy in the Bronx: An Annotated Guide to Sources of Information. New York: Bronx County Historical Society, 1986.
  • Ultan, Lloyd. The Beautiful Bronx, 1920–1950. New Rochelle, NY: Arlington Press, 1979.
  • Ultan, Lloyd. The Birth of the Bronx, 1609–1900. New York: Bronx County Historical Society, 2000. Book draws from diaries, letters, and other records.
  • Ultan, Lloyd. Blacks in the Colonial Bronx: A Documentary History. New York: Bronx County Historical Society, 2012.
  • Ultan, Lloyd. The Bronx in the American Revolution. New York: Bronx County Historical Society, 1975.
  • Ultan, Lloyd. The Bronx in the Frontier Era: From the Beginning to 1696. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt, 1993.
  • Ultan, Lloyd. The Bronx: It was Only Yesterday, 1935–1965. New York: Bronx County Historical Society, 1992.
  • Ultan, Lloyd. The Northern Borough: A History of the Bronx. New York: Bronx County Historical Society, 2009.
  • Wells, James, et al. The Bronx and Its People: A History, 1609–1927. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1927.
  • Wuttge, Frank. “Portal of History: Connotations of Name Origins of Bronx Streets and Avenues.” Typescript, 1964. NYPL, New York.

 

The materials above are a compilation of resources available, with an emphasis on online resources, which might be useful to someone doing research within this county.  The inclusion of a link does not constitute an endorsement of its content or accuracy.  Please send any additions or corrections to webmaster@nygbs.org.