The History Center in Tompkins County traces its roots to 1863 when Ithaca’s first local historical society — the Ithaca Historical and Scientific Society — was founded under the leadership of Ezra Cornell, the founder of Cornell University. Today, one-hundred fifty years later, the History Center offers researchers a number of unique collections of original source material on the history and families of Ithaca and its neighboring towns in Tompkins County.
Located a short walk from the Ithaca Commons, the organization was named the DeWitt Historical Society for much of its history, being named after Simeon DeWitt, the surveyor general of New York State from 1784 until his death in 1834, and one of the founding citizens of Ithaca. From 1973 to 1993, the society was located in the historic Clinton House in downtown Ithaca, moving in 1993 to its present location in the old Dean of Ithaca building on East State Street. In 2004, the society was renamed The History Center in Tompkins County.
building Reprinted with permission of
the Tompkins County History Center.
The Center’s archives and library house over 4,000 volumes, 1,000 feet of manuscripts, 2,000 genealogy files, 250 bound ledgers, 440 scrapbooks and 1,200 maps. Researchers with an interest in Tompkins County have access at the Center to four major collections: genealogy resources, photograph collections, map collections, and archival collections.
Genealogy Resources
The Center’s genealogy resources include over 2,000 files on individual Tompkins County families, as well as published genealogies and a sizable collection of published histories of Tompkins County and its towns. Genealogists will want to explore the Center’s extensive holdings of obituary listings (which date back to the 1860s), cemetery inscriptions, Ithaca city directories, death and marriage notices, and state and federal census records. The library has almost 500 scrapbooks, most of them indexed, containing local obituaries, marriage notices, and newspaper articles on a wide range of topics. The scrapbook collection is an invaluable aid to the researcher because The Ithaca Journal has never been indexed. The Ithaca city directory collection is also notable for being the most complete collection of Ithaca directories.
The archival collections contain almost 1,000 linear feet consisting of over 540 individual archival collections. These collections include organizational records, histories of local businesses, family collections, diaries, correspondence, church records, and legal records.
Photograph Collection
The Center’s photograph collection is one of Ithaca’s local treasures and the crown jewel of the Center. Reprints of old photos from the Center’s collection adorn many public places throughout Ithaca. The library has over 15,000 images available for browsing. The total collection contains over 100,000 images, and includes 10,000 glass plate negatives dating back to the 1860s. It also includes the extensive works of several local professional photographers. Reprints of popular images from the collection are available for purchase and the Center also offers darkroom and scanning services to duplicate those photographs.
Map Collection
The map collections are housed in the Center’s Map Room and Library. In the Map Room, several historic maps of Ithaca and Tompkins County, dating back to 1853, show the development of downtown Ithaca in the second half of the nineteenth century. The highlights of the collection, which contains almost 1,200 maps, include the historic maps of Ithaca (1836, 1851, 1868, 1872, and 1889), the Sanborn Insurance Maps of Ithaca (1893, 1904, 1910, 1919, 1961 and 1965), the 1825 Military Tract Map and Balloting Book, the 1866 Topographic Atlas of Tompkins County, and the Bird’s Eye Views of Ithaca from 1873 and 1882.
The Center is open on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 11 to 5, or by special appointment. In addition to on-site research, the Center’s research staff will also perform research by mail for an hourly fee.
Web address: www.thehistorycenter.net
Email: archives@thehistorycenter.net
Phone: (607) 273-8284
The History Center’s Genealogical Records
- Ithaca City Directories: 1864 to 1989 (Ithaca only), 1868, 1872, 1892 (include other Tompkins County towns);
- Obituary Listings: newspaper indexes and clippings dating from 1866;
- Cemetery Listings: Some Cemeteries in Tompkins County, Tompkins County Gravestone Inscriptions, Some Cemeteries of Between-the-Lakes Country (Portions of Seneca, Schuyler, & Tompkins Counties) by Jesse Howell Finch, and gravestone inscriptions of individual cemeteries;
- Death and Marriage Notices: Death and Marriage Notices, 1870-1890, from Tompkins County, by Nancy Greene-Young; Marriage and Death Notices, 1827 to 1885, from Tompkins County Newspapers, by Mary Smith Jackson; and Ithaca Journal obituary indexes for various periods, compiled by Joan and Julian Smith.
- Census Records: summary of the 1790 census for NY State, abstract of 1825 NY State census, and 1850 federal census for Tompkins County;
- Genealogy Files: over 2,000 Tompkins County families;
- Published genealogies and local histories of Tompkins County families and towns;
- Deeds and Other Legal Papers;
- Scrapbooks: over 400, including many obituaries and marriage notices.
by Fipphen, Richard C.
Originally published in The Researcher, Summer 2013
© 2013 The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society
All rights reserved.