The Niagara County Genealogical Society is an all volunteer organization located on the premises of the Niagara County Historical Society Museum at 215 Niagara Street. (Second Floor) Phone #: (716) 433-1033
Membership is encouraged because there are so many benefits to membership in the Society and your membership dues allow us to continue to grow our services and library. Membership is open to anyone.
Dues are $15.00 per year USA residents and $20 (US) per year for Canadian residents. International residents, please contact the Society. The Society membership year begins January 1 and ends December 31. If you wish to join at some other time in the calendar year, please contact the Society for membership information.
Membership - Contact the Society for a membership application
The Niagara County Genealogical Society, a non-profit organization, was organized in January 1979 by a few dedicated people interested in seeking, preserving, and sharing the information about this area's people...past and present. Currently we average about 335 active members from across the United States and Canada.
The research library has approximately 1600 books including cemetery records, census records, genealogies, city directories, DAR books, maps and atlases. Although much of the library holdings concern Niagara County, there is also have material from other New York counties, New England, Pennsylvania and Ontario, Canada. There are numerous periodicals such as Connecticut Nutmegger, NEHGS Register, Central New York Genealogical Society's Tree Talks, American Genealogist, etc. The Library is open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 1 pm until 5 pm. Please call ahead to make sure a librarian is on duty. All correspondence should be directed to the name and address above.
Reprints are available for purchase of the very rare 1860 Niagara County Maps.
Membership in the Niagara County Genealogical Society gives you the opportunity to meet and learn from other genealogists interested in our area. Some of the privileges of membership are listed below:
Look-up Program NCGS has a new service available to members only. Upon joining and with each renewal membership in the NCGS entitles you to ONE free 30 minute Look-Up in the NCGS library or ONE Obituary Look-up in either the Niagara Falls or Lockport Public Library. Additional Look-Ups are available for $10.00 (US) each and Obituary Look-ups for $6.00 (US) each.
Open Society Meetings Meetings are the last Wednesday of each month (except July, August & December) at 7:00pm at the Niagara County Historical Museum. (Call the library for details.)
Research - Contact the Society for more information
The Niagara County Genealogical Society provides a Look-up and Obituary Program for its members.
What Does the Program Do?
The NCGS Look-up program is an exciting new service and benefit of membership.
All people using this service must be members! Now included in the price of
membership ($15) is a 30-minute Look-up in the NCGS Library, or an Obit Look-up
in the Niagara Falls or Lockport Public Library. Following new and existing
members initial look-up, these services can be purchased for nominal fees. See
below. All look-ups and obit will be handled in the order they are received,
with preference being given initially to existing members.
How can existing members use
this service?
Existing members can fill out
the attached Look-up form for either the 30 minute look-up or the Obit, and have
this service completed free of charge. After their first request, all 30-minute
look-ups will be $10 and obits will cost $6, both US funds.
I want a look-up but I am not a member
Those desiring Look-Up services who are not members, must first fill out the
application for membership and include their $15 along with the attached Look-Up
form in order to receive these services. They get either ONE 30-minute look-up or
an obit for the cost of membership and each year upon
renewal! Additional Look-ups are still available for $10 (US) each and obituary
Look-ups for $6 (US) each.
What resources can I access for the 30-minute look-up?
Only those that are in the NCGS
library. Because this is a new program, and we are all volunteers, we put some
limits on what we will search. For now just the major references like census
data, cemetery, city and county directory information. However, in order to give
people wider choice, we have also designed a WILDCARD, which allows the look-up
volunteer to select based on their own knowledge and what the member has told
them. This is at the risk of the member – we may not find anything! We also have
a space for people who are aware of specific volumes we have to list the title
of the volume. We are currently considering selling CDs of our holdings for a
nominal fee.
What happens if my information only takes 15 minutes to find? How do I
maximize that 30 minutes?
We have thought a lot about
that! On the form you will see a space for “priority” – it must be a number. If
you put one (1) after census data, we will start our search there. After we
finish #1, we will go to what you have listed as number 2, and so on. When we
answer you, you will know where we left off and you can either send another
request or stop there!
I want to find an obit but all I have is a month, year and city
We will search a 1-week
timeframe during any year, but it is up to you to select. If you have even less
info, and still want us to look, you must at least guess at the city, month,
year and week. Please understand we may not come up with anything.
How much information will be sent back to me?
Fees for this service are based on the member receiving one business size envelope using first class postage. We can fit up to four sheets in the mailing. If we have additional information for you, we will indicate that when your information is returned and ask you to send a SASE for the remaining information.
1860 WALL MAP OF NIAGARA COUNTY REPRINTED
The Niagara County Genealogical Society* is making available the reprinting of a very rare wall map of Niagara County. The original map has been out of print for over 100 years.
In 1996, the NCGS began their reprinting effort with the reprinting of 12 individual maps that comprised the villages and hamlets of Niagara County in 1860. The 1860 wall map was used for many years in the early schools throughout the county. The 12 smaller maps surrounded the larger map of the county. The 12 Niagara County village and hamlet maps are 17 1/2” X 23” and are printed on Scott offset 70# cream paper.
The
large wall map is reprinted in a full 28” X 36” size on heavier off-white
paper. It contains hundreds of names of land owners and residents in the rural
areas of Niagara County in 1860.
(The names displayed on the large map are different
names than those that appear on the 12 smaller maps of the individual hamlets.)
Also on the large map are cemeteries, churches, train lines and stations,
schools, small cross-road communities, post offices, creeks and streams, as well
as a scale of miles.
The lots and sections from the Holland Land Company records are also
displayed.
The
12 smaller maps are for sale individually for $3.25 each or a complete set of 12
maps for $32.50. The large wall map is $7.00 each. (8% tax included and shipping
extra as applicable.) If you would like to order these maps, please complete the
order form below.
Schools, libraries and non-profit groups may order without a check (30
day terms) if a request is received on their organization’s letterhead. (Tax
exempt organizations should submit their tax exemption form with the order.)
*(The Niagara County Genealogical Society is a non-profit educational organization chartered by The New York State Board of Regents.)