New Rochelle History

Digital Collections

 
Breukner Barber Shop, c 1910
Click on the image above and
see buildings, streets, and people
of our past.

NRPL Digital Collection
The New Rochelle Public Library maintains the largest repository
of archival materials and resources related to the community’s history.
It is the only collection of New Rochelle local history that is indexed
and fully accessible to the general public.

Changing Guard, Front Guard House,
Fort Slocum, NY, 1911
Click on the image above to see images
from Davids Island's 100 years as a
military base and hear the voices of
individuals who were part of its history

Davids Island/Fort Slocum Cultural Resources Digital Repository
Davids Island in New Rochelle, New York. From 1861 to 1965 the island
served our nation as a post of the U.S. Army.From 2004 to 2008 the
U.S. Congress authorized funds to demolish the remnants of the post
and prepare the island for a new use. This resource was created
to help preseve an important part of New Rochelle's local history
and our national heritage.

New Rochelle Public Library Local History Collection and E.L. Doctorow
Local History Room

Hudson Park, New Rochelle NY

The New Rochelle Public Library maintains the largest repository of archival materials and resources related to the community’s history. It is the only collection of New Rochelle local history that is indexed and fully accessible to the general public.
The collection continually grows through donations from the public and acquisitions made by
the library.

Much of the collection is located in the E. L. Doctorow Local History Room. Named in 1998 for the noted author who used the collection extensively while residing in New Rochelle, the E.L. Doctorow Local History Room contains historical and other materials on New Rochelle, Westchester County, and New York State - including over 1500 non-circulating books, pamphlets, maps and atlases, photographs and CDs described in the Local History Index. To access the room for research, see a librarian at the second floor desk, where you will receive Guidelines for Using Materials of the Local History Collection in the E.L. Doctorow Local History Room and Rules of Use and Consent Form.
Click here to view these forms in a pdf file.

Index
The Index to the Local History Collection is an excellent aid for navigating the collection. Located in the E. L. Doctorow Local History Room, the Index includes these categories: Maps and Atlases, Biography and Genealogy, History (general), Government, Organizations, Places, Business and Industry, Transportation, Newspapers and Magazines, Oral Histories. and the Antonio Valencia Collection.
Click here to view the index in a pdf file.

Photographs and Postcards

Main Street, New Rochelle NY

The New Rochelle Photograph Collection is made up of over 1,000 photographs donated by Dominick Bruzzese, the Huguenot-Thomas Paine Historical Association, and other private collectors. Reproductions are filed in five notebooks according to subject and are located on the shelf in the local history room. Reproductions of the photographs, as well as vintage postcards in the Collection, may be purchased through the Community Relations Office.

Clippings File
The library has a large Clippings File of some 55,000 items, obtained from local newspapers, magazine clippings, New York Times items, obituaries, local associations and art show programs, etc, since the 1920s. The clippings are organized in categories and are located in the bank of file cabinets outside the Local History Room.

Microfilm
Reels of microfilmed New Rochelle papers, beginning with the late1800s
(New Rochelle Paragraph and New Rochelle Pioneer,) and continuing through the 1900s (the Evening Standard and then the Standard Star,) are located in the file drawers near the periodicals room on the 2nd floor. A librarian on the second floor desk will help in finding and setting-up a microfilm reel. Pages can be printed from the microfilm.

Archives
The Local History Collection contains numerous documents, manuscripts, books, scrapbooks and other items that require a secure and temperature controlled environment. These items, which are listed at 2nd floor E. L. Doctorow Local History Room, may be used by researchers who have completed an Archives Reference Request Form, located at the second floor reference desk.