Genealogy 

History Room

The Nottawa Township Library has resources that may be valuable to patrons for use in genealogical research.

Ancestry.com access is available in the library building. You can use your own personal device on the library wi-fi to access this site. If you are a Nottawa Township Library cardholder, you can access Ancestry Library Edition from home temporarily by logging in to the library catalog and clicking the Ancestry.com link.

Nottawa Library Geneology Room.JPG

Please note: The library staff will provide limited assistance, as time permits, in helping patrons with genealogy research while still performing other required staff duties. The library staff’s knowledge of genealogy resources may be limited and the library staff may be unable to fulfill some requests. All patrons are encouraged to contact the library prior to planning a genealogy research visit to ensure the availability of library staff and resources.

The library is adding the digitized newspaper collection to a web collection which can be found at Our Community History Archive. More of the collection will be added as funds allow. The entirety of the library’s newspaper collection is digitized, keyword searchable, and available upon request in the library.

Some St. Joseph County Historical information is available online at Michigan County Histories and Atlases, through a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant. The titles pertaining to our county are:

  • Michigan County Histories and Atlases before 1923

  • The History of St. Joseph County, Michigan 1911

  • St. Joseph County Atlases: 1872 and 1907

  • History of St. Joseph County, MI 1877

  • Portrait and Biographical Album of St. Joseph County 1889

  • The Gazetteer of the St. Joseph Valley, Michigan and Indiana 1867

  • An Account of Southwest Michigan and St. Joseph County 1878-1947