Ansonia Library
53
Cliff Street
Ansonia,
CT 203- 734- 6275
The Ansonia Library was the first stop in my recent research trip in Connecticut to find the children of Thomas Brady & Catherine Gibney.
When I parked near the large stone building I had no idea what I might find
inside. The website did not reveal their genealogy & history holdings. I
gathered my notes and my iPad and quickly walked through the rain and into the
library.
Construction of the building began in April, 1891. It was dedicated June 9, 1892, and became a library in 1896... The library started with a collection of 1,515 books, and a circulation the first year of 31,512.
from: Molloy, Leo T. Tercentenary Pictorial and History of the Lower Naugatuck Valley.
Ansonia, Connecticut: Press of the Emerson Bros., Inc., 1933.
After speaking to the librarians I was given a key and directed up a narrow wooden staircase to the history room.
In
the center of the room are large wooden tables. I set down all my things and
hung my rain jacket over the back of a wooden chair. Then I walked around the
room to discover just what was there. First I found books on the history of the
state, neighboring states, counties in CT, and towns in those counties. I like
to learn what was happening in the area where my ancestors lived so I gathered
a few to look through.
Most
of the history books there are best for families who were in the area early.
Our Irish Bradys did not arrive till the late 1800s. A book by
Leo T. Molloy gave me information on the area with brief histories of the towns,
the local newspaper, industries, churches & etc. It even gave a history of
the library I was in.
Molloy, Leo T. Tercentenary Pictorial and History of the Lower Naugatuck
Valley. Ansonia, Connecticut: Press of the Emerson
Bros., Inc., 1933.
A collection of City Directories was my next useful discovery. I found our family in those volumes for a period of over a hundred years.
Ansonia, Birmingham, Derby, Shelton, Seymour Directory. New Haven, Connecticut: Price, Lee & Co., Publishers.
By the time I was deep into taking notes from the directories my cousin arrived from NJ. She made her way up to the history room. We greeted each other with big hugs and then Pat had her turn to explore the room.
Thanks to the librarians who retrieved the boxes of microfilm for us, gave us some driving directions and were always friendly.
Related Posts:
- Connecticut Research Trip
- Derby, CT Public Library Research
- Derby, Ct City Hall Research
- Pine Grove Cemetery, Ansonia CT
- Ansonia City Hall
What a charming little library!
ReplyDeleteLisa, if I lived nearby I'd like to lead a fund raiser for that library. The history room needed attention and they had only one working microfilm reader. But it was full of hidden treasures.
DeleteBeautiful old building; rich in history both outside and inside..
ReplyDeleteCharlie, I enjoyed sitting in the library and reading the history of the building.
Delete