GENERAL INFORMATION
The Frederick County Archives & Research Center (formerly the Historical Society of Frederick County’s Library) holds a variety of historical materials awaiting discovery. Letters, diaries, Civil War records, maps, family histories, photographs and books on local subjects are all available for use by historians and genealogists in this non-circulating research collection. Knowledgeable staff are available to assist patrons and research services are available for a fee.
Also in the collection are published records of Frederick’s parent county of Prince George’s from 1762 until 1748, when Frederick County was established. Records of neighboring counties that were later formed out of Frederick County (Montgomery, Washington, Allegany, Garrett, and Carroll) also can be found here. Published indices to land patent records from 1679 to 1783 are available, as well as immigration and migration records and records from the adjoining states of Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Genealogists will want to search the family history files and published family histories. Historians will find extensive vertical files and publications on a variety of county-related subjects. The rich manuscript collection includes documents of the Potomac Home Brigade, business records, and diaries and the papers of a few notable local families. A growing collection of photographic images also is available.
POLICIES & PROCEDURES
OF INTEREST TO RESEARCHERS & PATRONS
1. The Frederick County Archives & Research Center collection is non-circulating.
2.
Researchers may not take items such as handbags, backpacks, briefcases and coats into the Reading Room; secure lockers are provided for the storage of such materials.
3. Prior arrangments are required for access to archival holdings. In some cases, materials will require retrieval from an off-site storage facility.
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Local tailor and politician Jacob Engelbrecht kept a diary of events occurring locally and beyond from 1818 to 1878. In these twenty-one bound volumes he recorded deaths, marriages, elections, the weather and virtually every other aspect of life. 