The Celia Epstein Stone Research Room houses the library’s collection of Wareham and Local History. This room is open by appointment only.
To secure an appointment, please email the Reference Librarian (Melissa Dyer) at mdyer@sailsinc.org with your specific request (points of information you are researching: title of book/resource, name of individual, DOB, etc.) to ensure that we can accommodate your needs. Appointments will be made for viewing, should a resource be available to meet your needs. Questions? Please call 508.295.2343 x1012.
If you need a copy of an article or an obituary from the Wareham Courier Microfilm, please contact us by email at mdyer@sailsinc.org with the following information:
- Name of individual in article/obituary
- Approximate date of article/obituary
There is a copy fee per page ($.25 Color or B&W) for self-guided copying and $.30/page for copies made by our staff. Any materials that require mailing will be subject to current postal rates - payment must be made in cash or by check (made out to the Wareham Free Library, memo line with the specific research "name").
Please note that we are unable to support extended research requests, anything exceeding 30 minutes will require a patron to book their own research appointment.
Wareham Cemetery Records – This website contains names of individuals buried in Wareham’s four cemetery’s along with photos of gravestones. It has been curated by Andrew Griffith.
Massachusetts Cultural Resource System – Information about historic homes/locations around the Commonwealth.
Plymouth County Registry of Deeds – Locate title information about houses and properties by searching for house or owner, and narrowing search by location in Wareham or elsewhere in Plymouth County.
1903-04 Resident and Business Directory of Rochester, Wareham, Marion and Mattapoisett (A.E. Foss & Co)
Doing genealogy research?
- Ancestry Library Edition. (Available IN LIBRARY USE Only) This database delivers billions of records in census data, vital records, directories, photos and more. Search more than 7,000 databases – which include immigration records, family histories, military records, court and legal documents, and maps.
- Resources for Genealogists (from the National Archives)
For more digitized books, you can check out:
- Genealogy Resources (from the Internet Archive)
- Genealogy Resources (from the Hathi Trust)
- History of Wareham (by Rev. Noble Warren Everett, In The History of Plymouth County, Edited by D. Hamilton Hurd – 1884) – Starts on page 191
Looking for maps or atlases?
The State Library of Massachusetts has scanned two atlases that are in our Stone Room Collection, in color. The links are down below. You can view more digitized Massachusetts atlases here.
- George Walker’s 1879 Atlas of Plymouth County (Page 65 includes maps of Wareham/Wareham Narrows, Page 71 has maps of East Wareham and Tremont Village)
- L. J. Richards Plymouth County Atlas – 1903 (Pages 39 through 41 include maps of Wareham/Onset)
The Library of Congress has recently digitized several maps of local interest that are in our Stone Room Collection. The links for these maps are below.
- 1832 Map of Wareham – Surveyed by Sylvanus Bourne
- 1857 Map of Plymouth County – Surveyed by Henry E. Walling, Published by D.R. Smith & Co.
- 1885 Onset Bay Grove Arial Map
- 1887 Sanborn Insurance Map – Wareham – 1 image
- 1896 Sanborn Insurance Map – Wareham – 3 images
- 1901 Sanborn Insurance Map – Wareham – 4 images
- 1906 Sanborn Insurance Map – Wareham/Onset – 9 images
- 1912 Sanborn Insurance Maps – Wareham/Onset – 12 images