Available Resources

Historical information about the Town of Henrietta has been collected over the years in a variety of locations. The main collections of this information can be found with the Henrietta Town Historian and the Rochester Public Library's Local History Division, with a smaller collection available at the Henrietta Public Library.

Current Resources Available:

Henrietta Public Library:
  • Henrietta Heritage, by Eleanor Kalsbeck - print
  • Antoinette Brown Blackwell, A Biography by Elizabeth Cazden - print
  • Images of America, by Helen Vollmer Elam - print 
  • Henrietta, New York from 1818 to 2018, A Bicentennial Commemoration by Tina Thompson - print
  • Circulating books on Henrietta, the surrounding communities and Western New York
  • Historical Atlases
  • Rush-Henrietta High School Yearbooks, 1950s-present (incomplete)
  • Historical Town maps
  • Census records - microfilm
    • U.S. Census, 1850-1930
    • N.Y.S - 1855, 1865
  • Henrietta Newspapers - microfilm
    • The Observer
    • Henrietta Weekly Journal, 1961-1987
    • Henrietta Post, 1961-2021
  • Access to genealogical database Ancestry.com on library computers

The Library has a ScanPro microfilm reader which allows you to view the microfilm on a computer and make digital copies or prints.  Please ask at the reference desk for assistance.

Henrietta Town Historian:
  • Family Histories
  • Henrietta Oral History Project- Recorded Interviews
    • Ruth Van Ostrand
    • Estelle Smith
    • Don Cook
    • Stephen McNall
    • Esther Kroeger
    • Barbara Rose
    • Ann Hall
    • Marian Deuel
  • Photographs
  • Maps
  • Historical Documents
  • Tax assessment records 
  • Obituaries
  • Cemetery Indexes
  • Tours of Town Museum Thursdays 11am-2pm, or by appointment
Journals, Diaries, and Personal Correspondence

Journals, diaries, and personal correspondence can be helpful in researching the everyday lives of a variety of people in history.  The authors of journals, diaries, and letters may include men, women, and children of varying socioeconomic backgrounds.

Journals, diaries, and personal correspondence have the ability to paint a more vivid picture of everyday life than a standard work, as they give us a sense of the past from the author’s point of view.  However, just because someone wrote down the information in journals, diaries, or letters does not make these items fact.  Be certain to verify any dates or events before they are recorded as fact.  Also, through reading a journal, diary, or letter, one may encounter opinions on topics that are contrary to their own or to contemporary thought.

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