Hudson Library and Historical Society

Hudson Library and Historical Society
96 Library Street, Hudson, OH

The Hudson Library and Historical Society has a fine genealogy and local history collection that I have wanted to visit for a long time. As they had several non-circulating items on Kanawha County, West Virginia that were suitable for my MASON family research I finally went this past week.

Their "new" 54,000 square foot building opened in 2005. They are a combined library and historical society and so they have historical artifacts beautifully displayed throughout the building.

An antique rocking horse displayed on top of book shelves, high
out of reach of curious youngsters

A quilt depicting the history of Hudson, Ohio

Antique parasols 

Their local history and genealogy room is on the second floor in the back of the adult fiction and non fiction area. It has its own entrance:

Entrance to the Archives Room

There is a staff desk where you will sign in and read their guidelines for the room. You may be asked to leave large bags in the lockers.

The Archives is always staffed. 

Introduce yourself and explain the purpose of your visit. They will give you a quick overview of the archives. The staff are friendly and helpful.

Do your homework before going. Have a list of which items you want to use. INCLUDE THE CALL NUMBER!

The stacks where most of the histories are shelved.

The study tables are large, and well lit.

Study tables and additional collections.

Around the study tables are special collections:

• John Brown Collection
• County Histories
• Military materials
• New books - yes, I found some new titles for Medina's collection!!

The copier only costs 10 cents a page. BRING CHANGE.

The Archives also has a microfilm and digitization corner.

Typical microfilm area.

A station for converting VHS & DVD into digital files.

All in all, I looked at 17 different items for my personal research.

All of the West Virginia items resulted in NEGATIVE results -- meaning I did not find anything useful. Sigh...

But the library also had a number of Maryland and Delaware items that I checked for the surnames of my ancestors from those states.

Voila! I found an entry for William SWAIN in the book Marylanders to Ohio and Indiana by Henry C. Paden. It stated that William served in the War of 1812, which I did not know. It gave his land bounty warrant number and listed his surviving children at the time of his death in 1852 in Ohio.

SCORE!

So, check the online catalog and see if a trip to the Hudson Library and Historical Society is in your future!