NOTICE: The Cincinnati History Library and Archives is updating access to their website and online catalog. Until the new website is up and running, the links to their indexes and book, photo, manuscript and journal catalogs from this page are not working.

Visiting the Library

The Cincinnati History Library and Archives (CHLA) is free and open to the public. Park in the Cincinnati Museum Center’s lot for a fee unless you’re a member, or park on the street without charge. CHLA is located on the Museum Center's mezzanine level. It is required that you contact the library before visiting, due to limited hours and since a significant portion of their collection is housed offsite and what you want may need to be retrieved before you can access it. Contact: library@cincymuseum.org.

Hamilton County Genealogical Records in CHLA

Founded in 1831, CHLA has one of the most significant regional historical collections in the United States, with thousands of books, pamphlets, periodicals, ephemera, manuscripts, architectural drawings, photographs, maps, business records, broadcast tapes and special collections.

Online Catalog

Cincinnati History Library and Archives has a new inclusive search engine for their collections where the public can search not only books, journals, and manuscripts but also museum artifacts. Many of the collections are “coming soon” but genealogists can already search published works, manuscripts, photographs, digital journals, and the local history index. Many items are not catalogued, so contact the library for more information or to set up an appointment to visit.

City and County Directories

Guide to Cincinnati City Directories, by Bill Graver, is available only at CHLA. This guide describes all directories available, unusual information to be found in the directories, and house numbering changes.

Digital Journals

This full-text electronic database is searchable and linked to images of the pages of five CHLA history journals:

Quarterly Publication of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, 1906-1923
Bulletin of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, 1943-1963
Cincinnati Historical Society Bulletin, 1964-1982
Queen City Heritage, 1983-1999
Ohio Valley History, 2001-2006

Index to Local History Resources

This index of names, places, and topics in Cincinnati reference books and other resources at CHLA contains 69,883 entries from 21 sources.

Manuscripts

CHLA's manuscript department contains approximately 11,300 collections of the papers of individuals and families and the records of churches, societies, institutions, charities, schools and businesses. The department is particularly strong in the areas of early Cincinnati history, the Civil War and Cincinnati clubs.

The number of online manuscript registers continues to grow. Many registers, online as well as many more onsite at CHLA, include indexes.

Indexes to manuscripts held by CHLA, available only at CHLA:

Index to the Criminal Records in the Commissioners’ Reports of the Court of Common Pleas of Hamilton County, Ohio 1857-1865/1868-1871
Marriage Licenses 1822-32, Hamilton County, Ohio
Index of Tax Assessors for Hamilton County 1890
Indexes to Annual Reports of Managers of Widows’ Homes and Old Men’s Home
Marriage Records of Madisonville Methodist Episcopal Church, 10 October 1861 to 11 November 1937
Index: Annual Reports of the City Work-house, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1868-1890.
Index to the Annual Reports of the Old Men’s Home of Cincinnati, 1881-1930

HCGS volunteers compiled this index:

Military Order of Loyal Legion of the United States, Ohio Commandery Records 1881-1949, Mss M644. The 71-page name index gives the entry number. Entries, also in the index, show name, rank, regiment, date (283 pages).

Maps

CHLA's collection contains the following local maps, among many others.

Atlases indexed by community: 1869, 1884, 1914, 1922
Insurance maps: 1855, 1891, 1904-1956
Plat maps: 1907-1916, 1913-1922
Topographical maps by community: 1949-1975
Miscellaneous maps including 2,500 area maps
Ward maps: 1820-1920
Enumeration district maps: 1920

Map guides by Bill Graver, available only at CHLA:

Guide to Large Scale Atlases, an index to nine atlases published between 1855 and 1922.
Guide to Sheet Maps and Place Names indexes 144 local maps published between 1789 and 1972.
Guide to USGS Topographical Maps explains maps rich in detail, published between 1900 and 1996.
Virginia Military District Maps, Early 19th Century, Mss 994, a guide to 29 hand-drawn maps, each showing the name of the claimant, official survey number and number of acres.

Microfilms

Microfilms are not indexed in CHLA's online catalog. The collection contains the federal population census of Ohio (1820-1840) and southwestern Ohio (1850-1930) and microfilm of The Cincinnati Enquirer and The Cincinnati Times-Star.

Newspapers

The collection includes several Cincinnati newspapers including German and religious newspapers, most notably the only known complete set of Christliche Apologete, 1838-1941, as well as some very early newspapers and community newspapers.

Photographs and illustrations

CHLA houses close to one million archival photographs and prints, as well as films, videos, and sound recordings.

Recorder’s Office

Hamilton County Recorder’s Office documents on microfilm at CHLA include 1,200 deed books, from 1794 to 1920, with a by-name index. Other indexes cover powers of attorney, leases, mortgages, releases (of mortgages), cemetery lot deeds, mechanic’s liens, partnerships, organizations, veterans’ discharges, registered land, maps, deeds (by-area deed indexes including all land-related documents), and miscellaneous records.

Vital Statistics Index

This onsite index is drawn from sources in CHLA's collections and contains births, deaths and marriages of Cincinnati, Ohio and the Northwest Territory.

page modified: May 2024