May Memorial Library Local History & Genealogy Collections

May Memorial Library maintains a Local History Collection which is accessible during regular library hours. Included in this collection are works on the history and genealogy of Alamance County and its neighboring counties -- Caswell, Chatham, Guilford, Orange, Randolph and Rockingham.

The Local History Collection at May Memorial is a repository for the ancestor charts of members of the Alamance County Genealogical society and for the Society's collection of genealogical journals.

North Carolina census indexes for the federal population censuses are available from 1790 through 1930 either as print indices or via the online genealogical services HeritageQuest and Ancestry.

Other highlights of the collection include North Carolina marriage bond microfiche before 1868, pre-1914 north Carolina cemetery surveys on microfilm, and an extensive collection of troop rosters and pension abstracts for American wars.

The library also provides access to United States historical newspapers by means of the online database NewspaperArchive, which is available for use within the library or from home via the library website.  The NewspaperArchive database helps to locate local newspaper articles from the Burlington Times-News between 1928 and 1977 and provides scanned images of their contents. 

The Local History collection at May Memorial Library welcomes donations of materials of local interest.  however, lack of archival quality storage facilities prevents the acquisition of photographs or of certain materials in fragile or delicate condition.

Items unique to the Local History collection at May Memorial include:

  • A collection of yearbooks from High Schools and Colleges in Alamance County and North Carolina 

  • A file listing persons from Alamance County who died in conflicts in the Middle East.

  • A file listing persons from Alamance County who died in the Vietnam War.   Thanks go to library volunteer Miriam Pace for compiling this list.

  • A file listing persons from Alamance County who died in the Korean War. 

  • A file listing persons from Alamance County who died in World War II.  

  • A file listing persons from Alamance County who died in World War I. 

  • A marriage and obituary index to The Alamance Gleaner, weekly newspaper published at Graham, NC, for the period 1875-1913. 

  • Genealogical notes on local families of German descent and Lutheran and Reformed Church records translated from German by the late Rev. David I. Offman, Lutheran minister.
     
  • A scrapbook concerning the life of physician and blood-banking pioneer, Dr. Charles Richard Drew, who died in a traffic accident in Alamance County in 1950 and is memorialized by a local monument.
     
  • Manuscripts of the column "In Days Gone By" written by the late Julian Hughes in the Burlington Times-News regarding early Burlington people and places.  An index to the articles is available.

  • A subject index to Don Bolden's Burlington Times-News columns "Alamance in the Past" for the years 1974 - 1976 and 1978 - 1985 is available. The 1978-1985 index was compiled by volunteer Miriam Pace.
  •  A subject index to items from the yearly Times-News Progress edition from 1949-1960.  The index was compiled by volunteer Miriam Pace.
  • Early Burlington photographs from City of Burlington, Alamance County promotional pamphlet published in 1906 by O.F. Crowson held by the May Memorial Library Local History Collection. Several unidentified family photographs from the library collection are also included. View the photographs here.
     
  • Microfilm of Cemetery records, Census records, Church histories, historic newspapers, city directories and more.  Complete list of microfilm held at May Memorial.

  • Family History Vertical File.  View a list of Surnames included in this file. Please note that items in this file include typescript family histories, pedigree sheets, newspaper obituaries, and various brief items of genealogical interest for families in Alamance County and immediately adjacent counties. Whenever possible, variant possible spellings of the surname have been noted. 

  • North Carolina Business and City Directories

 

 

 

The Local History Librarian will answer limited inquiries by mail if a stamped-self-addressed envelope is provided.

Other sources of local historical and genealogical information include:

Alamance County Genealogical Society
P.O. Box 3052
Burlington, NC 27216
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncacgs/

Alamance County Historical Museum
4777 South NC Highway 62
Burlington, NC 27215