Explore Boston and Beyond
Boston Public Library offers rich Boston-area collections, tailored research tools, and expert guidance from our staff to help you explore the history of Boston, its communities, and its surroundings. Examples of what we offer include:
- Detailed research guides to help you track down historic street names and buildings
- Boston-area collections dating back to its colonial history
- Databases and tools specific to Boston's history including the historic Boston Globe, the Boston TV News Library, and Atlascope, a tool for exploring historic maps of Boston
Past Event Recordings
Local & Family History Lecture Series Recordings
Watch recordings of some of the Boston Public Library's Local & Family History Lecture programs on our YouTube channel.
Local History Guides
Our staff-published guides to researching local history at the BPL.
Local History Tools and Databases
Our carefully selected local history resources.
Local History Databases
Atlascope Boston
Atlascope is a tool for exploring how places have changed over time in metropolitan Boston using historic urban maps. It has over 70 maps...
Digital Commonwealth
Explore selections of our digitized collections available online.
Boston Globe (1872-1992)
Searchable full-page and article reproductions back to the first issue on March 4, 1872. Coverage: Morning Edition only.
Jewish Advocate (1905-1990)
Searchable full-page and article reproductions back to the May 26, 1905 issue.
Photo and Video Collections
Items held in Boston Public Library's historical collections with particular local significance.
Michael T. "Nuf Ced" McGreevy Collection
Boston Pictorial Archive
Boston Herald-Traveler Photo Morgue
Leslie Jones Collection
WHDH Collection
Archive of Photographic Documentation of Early Massachusetts Architecture
Grove Hall Memory Project
Jack Miller Collection
