Item sets

• Branford 1938 Hurricane Photographs - Short Beach and Branford Point
• 1905 Branford Carnival Photographs
  The James Blackstone Memorial Library has four albums of photographs taken during the Branford Carnivals of the early 20th century. The Branford Agricultural Fair was started in 1895 and included a parade and displays held on the Branford Green. Later the fair moved to the Driving Park, also known as Hippodrome Park, and bicycle and trotting races were added. The event was reorganized by the Branford Businessmen Association in 1905 and became known as the Branford Carnival. The fair was abandoned in 1907 and 1908 but resumed in 1909. The last record for the carnival is 1910, however, newspapers should be consulted for later dates. - Jane Peterson Bouley
• Blackstone Library Construction Photographs
  Library construction photographs taken between 1893 and 1896 by a variety of photographers. These photographs exist in physical form across several different albums and collections. See the notes on individual photos for more details on where the physical copies can be located. The act of incorporation of the James Blackstone Memorial Library Association was approved by the governor on March 23, 1893, and construction began that year. Construction was completed in 1896 and the library was dedicated on June 17, 1896.
• 1906 Branford Carnival Photographs
  The James Blackstone Memorial Library has four albums of photographs taken during the Branford Carnivals of the early 20th century. The Branford Agricultural Fair was started in 1895 and included a parade and displays held on the Branford Green. Later the fair moved to the Driving Park, also known as Hippodrome Park, and bicycle and trotting races were added. The event was reorganized by the Branford Businessmen Association in 1905 and became known as the Branford Carnival. The fair was abandoned in 1907 and 1908 but resumed in 1909. The last record for the carnival is 1910, however, newspapers should be consulted for later dates. - Jane Peterson Bouley
• 1909 Branford Carnival Photographs
  The James Blackstone Memorial Library has four albums of photographs taken during the Branford Carnivals of the early 20th century. The Branford Agricultural Fair was started in 1895 and included a parade and displays held on the Branford Green. Later the fair moved to the Driving Park, also known as Hippodrome Park, and bicycle and trotting races were added. The event was reorganized by the Branford Businessmen Association in 1905 and became known as the Branford Carnival. The fair was abandoned in 1907 and 1908 but resumed in 1909. The last record for the carnival is 1910, however, newspapers should be consulted for later dates. - Jane Peterson Bouley
• 1910 Branford Carnival Photographs
  The James Blackstone Memorial Library has four albums of photographs taken during the Branford Carnivals of the early 20th century. The Branford Agricultural Fair was started in 1895 and included a parade and displays held on the Branford Green. Later the fair moved to the Driving Park, also known as Hippodrome Park, and bicycle and trotting races were added. The event was reorganized by the Branford Businessmen Association in 1905 and became known as the Branford Carnival. The fair was abandoned in 1907 and 1908 but resumed in 1909. The last record for the carnival is 1910, however, newspapers should be consulted for later dates. - Jane Peterson Bouley
• Branford City Directories
  Branford city directories were started in 1895, published by Price and Lee Company of New Haven until 1978 and afterwards by other companies. They were intended as a resource for businesses and local government and were not published every year. The directories list the names of those living in town, addresses, occupation, and place of business; also included are advertisements, names of streets, government, social groups, and church information. Starting in 1928 there is an alphabetical street index in the back with street numbers and occupants. A pull out map by Price and Lee was included starting in 1928, these maps are often missing from the directories. Wives names were not included until that year. The directory may list a marriage for a woman, if someone moved to another town and death dates. There were no city directories for the town of North Branford until 1960 when the information was included in the Branford directory. The city directories are very useful for tracking a family chronologically in a town- when they first came, where they lived, if they left, and other family information. The directory should be used in conjunction with maps, land records, and census. The directories did not always collect data accurately on newly arriving immigrants, particularly men coming to work in Branford that were either unmarried or did not bring their families. Cultural patterns can be ascertained by following the directories chronologically; for example, there was an increase in the number of marriages during World War II. In the early 1900s many families removed from Branford to New Haven, probably to be closer to a place of employment. After World War II families moved to East Haven and North Branford as those towns were developing during the post World War II period with affordable housing. During the mid to late 1950s there is a slowing of this movement out of town as families settled into suburban areas. The James Blackstone Memorial Library has the only full set of Branford Directories. A few appear on-line from various genealogy vendors. Blackstone Library owns the following years: 1895, 1897 1900, 1904, 1909 1913, 1917 1920, 1925, 1926, 1928 1930, 1932, 1936, 1939 1942, 1946 1950, 1953, 1958 1960, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974. 1976, 1977, 1978 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1998, 1999 2000 - present - Jane Peterson Bouley
• Branford 1938 Hurricane - Newspaper Articles
  A collection of articles on the 1938 hurricane in local newspapers from 1938 to 1988.
• Branford 1938 Hurricane Photographs - Branford Center and Post Road
• Pictures of the Past - Branford Review articles
  Short essays entitled "Pictures of the Past" were published in the Branford Review from 1988 until 2003. Authored by Jane Peterson Bouley, they highlighted the Branford Historical Society's extensive photograph collection. The essays included historical information on a variety of subjects including neighborhoods, people, stores, hotels and events.
• Branford 1938 Hurricane Photographs - Indian Neck, Haycock Point, Summer Island & Hotchkiss Grove
• Branford 1938 Hurricane Photographs - Pine Orchard
• Branford Schools
• Branford High School Yearbooks
  Searchable scans of the Milestone (missing 1933 and 1934) with additional years to be added
• Saturday Chronicle Newspaper Articles
• Branford, Connecticut: A Survey of Architectural and Historical Resources
• Branford Lock Works
• Main Street
• Branford Census
  Branford census records, abstracted with notes by Branford Town Historian Jane Bouley