Overview

Go to the Michigan Room page for general information about the room.See below for resources.

Barry County History Portal

In Fall 2022, we launched a new local history website all about Barry County history. It highlights items in our collection and will be added to over time.

A significant collection on the website will be digitized newspapers, including The Hastings Banner and Nashville News. The Banner is being uploaded as of November 2022 and should be complete in early 2023. The Nashville News will go online in early 2023.

Genealogy

Ancestry Library Edition is being discontinued at HPL effective July 1, 2023. See the News for more information

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 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• Historical documents and records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.

Newspapers

HPL has a large collection of local newspapers dating back to the mid-1800s. Papers are available as PDF or hardcopy as indicated below. Microfilm is no longer publicly available now that PDF files exist.

The newspaper collection currently contains:

In early 2022 the Library kicked off a project to digitize all Hastings Banners and several other local newspapers. Stay tuned for progress updates and availability.

Online Resources

Barry County

• 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
• Barry County Plat Map - search current Plat maps online
• History of Barry County - entire books or selections from books, from the University of Michigan

Hastings

• Hastings Cemetery Records and MUCH more - from LDS Genealogy
• Hastings Riverside Cemetery - searchable online map
• Hastings Riverside Cemetery Video - by Paul Bollinger
• Hastings High School Yearbooks - find most, if not all, online via MyHeritage; HPL also has hardcopies of most years

Michigan

• Historical Society of Michigan
• Library of Michigan Digital Repository - online access to uniquely Michigan materials
• Michigan Maps - historical maps from Michigan State
• Michigan Memories - online collections from cultural institutions across the state
• Seeking Michigan Indexes - online indexes and information about the Archives of Michigan
• Seeking Michigan Guides - online guides to the Archives of Michigan

Civil War

• Record of Michigan Volunteers in the Civil War, 1861-1865.
  • Volumes 1-46, Full text, Searchable
  • Provides some background on all infantry companies and listings of all who served
  • Provided by the Hathi Trust Digital Library
• Michigan in the Civil War

General Genealogy

• FindAGrave: Locate graves across the world
• National Archives Catalog Guide for Genealogists and Family Historians
• Online Census Records: 1790 – 1940 as of March 16, 2022
• Research Military Records: provided by the National Archives, search by branch or conflict

General United States

• Federal Land Records Site - Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior, 1788 - present