Overview

July 2020: The Michigan Room is not open to the public during COVID-19 restrictions. Genealogy can still be performed on the public computers on the main floor subject to current time usage limitations.

The Michigan Room houses resources for local history and genealogy research, hosts the monthly Genealogy Club and Barry County Historical Society meetings and serves as a quiet place to read.

Patrons are always welcome to use this space for small meetings, to read quietly or hold tutoring sessions.

A list of resources including room layout is available.

Note: the room is not reserveable except for library sponsored events.

Genealogy

You must be inside the library to use Ancestry Library Edition. It will not work outside the Hastings Public Library.

MyHeritage Library Edition - Family history resource including more than 6 billion historical records from the United States, Europe, Latin America, and other regions. Includes the full USA federal census (1790-1940); census of England and Wales (1841-1901); U.S. World War II Army Enlistment as well as records of Union and Confederate Civil War soldiers.

FamilySearch.org is a non-profit service sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Here anyone can get assistance in finding their ancestors and preserving their family histories. For over 100 years the Church has been actively gathering and preserving genealogical records worldwide thus making it possible to provide this service today.

Genealogy Search Online. Free Family Tree Searches. 26,000 Genealogy Databases. Discover Your Family History and Build Your Family Tree.

Genealogy Club

Genealogy Club members volunteer their time to answer research questions sent to the Library about family history or other genealogical information. Club members maintain Barry County records and other local materials at the Library and actively seek to enrich these holdings through contributions, original indexing work, and purchases. Cemetery records and newspaper indexes are a key part of these holdings.

Genealogy Research Request

To get assistance with genealogy research, please fill out the Genealogy Research Request.

Local History

The Michigan Room houses many resources for local history research including:

• Cemetery Records
• Platt Books
• High School Yearbooks
• Newspapers (physical and microfilm back to the mid-1800s)
• Historical documents and records

All materials must stay in the library but patrons are free to make photocopies or save images to portable USB drives when possible.

To submit a Local History Research Request please fill out the Local History Research Request Form.

Online Resources

• Barry County Tax Parcel Maps
• Barry County Register of Deeds Index Search
• Barry County Assessors
• Barry County Online Historical Directories
• Barry County Maps & Atlases - Historical from the University of Michigan
• History of Barry County - entire books or selections from books, from the University of Michigan
• Historical Society of Michigan
• Hastings Cemetery Records and MUCH more - from LDS Genealogy
• Hastings Riverside Cemetery - searchable online map
• Federal Land Records Site - Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior, 1788 - present
• Michigan Maps - historical maps from Michigan State
• Seeking Michigan Indexes - online indexes and information about the Archives of Michigan
• Seeking Michigan Guides - online guides to the Archives of Michigan