Hours ⚬ Address ⚬ Phone

Stone Research Room

The Celia Epstein Stone Research Room houses the library’s collection of Wareham and Local History. This room is open by appointment only.

To secure an appointment, please email the Reference Librarian (Melissa Dyer) at mdyer@sailsinc.org with your specific request (points of information you are researching: title of book/resource, name of individual, DOB, etc.) to ensure that we can accommodate your needs.  Appointments will be made for viewing, should a resource be available to meet your needs.  Questions?  Please call 508.295.2343 x1012.

If you need a copy of an article or an obituary from the Wareham Courier Microfilm, please contact us by email at mdyer@sailsinc.org with the following information:

  • Name of individual in article/obituary
  • Approximate date of article/obituary

There is a copy fee per page ($.25 Color or B&W) for self-guided copying and $.30/page for copies made by our staff.  Any materials that require mailing will be subject to current postal rates - payment must be made in cash or by check (made out to the Wareham Free Library, memo line with the specific research "name").

Please note that we are unable to support extended research requests, anything exceeding 30 minutes will require a patron to book their own research appointment.

Wareham Cemetery Records – This website contains names of individuals buried in Wareham’s four cemetery’s along with photos of gravestones. It has been curated by Andrew Griffith.

Massachusetts Cultural Resource System – Information about historic homes/locations around the Commonwealth.

Plymouth County Registry of Deeds – Locate title information about houses and properties by searching for house or owner, and narrowing search by location in Wareham or elsewhere in Plymouth County.

1903-04 Resident and Business Directory of Rochester, Wareham, Marion and Mattapoisett (A.E. Foss & Co)

Doing genealogy research? 

  • Ancestry Library Edition. (Available IN LIBRARY USE Only)  This database delivers billions of records in census data, vital records, directories, photos and more. Search more than 7,000 databases – which include immigration records, family histories, military records, court and legal documents, and maps.
  • American Ancestors - (AVAILABLE FROM HOME but must use your library card to enter) - American Ancestors® is a national nonprofit center for family history, heritage, and culture based in Boston, Massachusetts that has been setting the gold standard for family history research since its founding in 1845. Today, American Ancestors serves more than 400,000 members and online subscribers through AmericanAncestors.org, one of the world’s largest online collections of free family history resources, scholarship, educational programming and events.

For more digitized books, you can check out:

How To Begin Researching a Home's History:

  • First off, write down as much information as possible. Using a template to begin recording your research is a good idea. Click here to view recommended templates. 

  • Visiting the local assessor’s website may bring some information. Searching an address can result in information such as the current owner, date the house was built & other facts. Click here to view Wareham's website. 

  • Click here to visit MACRIS maps and enter your address. MACRIS is run by the Massachusetts Historical Commission & there may be information on your home in their database. Be sure to write down when it was built & any names associated with it.

  • Click here to view home of the National Register of Historic Places. Enter “Wareham” into the search field & see what information this site can provide. Navigating this site can be complex. Don’t be afraid to call the library if you need help!

  • Click here to access the Plymouth County Registry of Deeds. Enter  your property’s address. Record names of owners of the property.

  • Click here to view Historic Map Works. Enter the town name. There may be some names of property owners on these maps not recorded elsewhere.

  • Massachusetts Land Records -  Access land records from across the Commonwealth.

  • Visit ancestry.com: (use this link above if in the library)

  • Worth remembering: Venturing into the past can be tricky. Your current address may not be the address of the house when it was built. Remember to record address changes throughout a home’s history. Also remember that venturing into the past can be complicated & potentially frustrating. Despite what TV would have you believe, research is not always simple & can take days, weeks, months, or years. Do not get easily discouraged & remember to enjoy the journey! 

  •  Marian Pierre-Louis, The Northeast House Historian, has an excellent website. It can be found at : https://northeasthousehistorian.com/.   If you’re serious about researching your home her site has much information on researching throughout New England.

Looking for maps or atlases?

The State Library of Massachusetts has scanned two atlases that are in our Stone Room Collection, in color. The links are down below. You can view more digitized Massachusetts atlases here.

The Library of Congress has recently digitized several maps of local interest that are in our Stone Room Collection. The links for these maps are below.