Rochester Public Library
115 South Ave.
Rochester, NY 14604

 Telephone: (716) 428-7300 (general)
Telephone: (716) 428-8370 (Local History and Genealogy Dept.)

• Hours:
• Sunday 1:00 - 5:00 (October - May; only)
• Monday 9:00 - 9:00
• Tuesday 9:00 - 6:00
• Wednesday 9:00 - 6:00
• Thursday 9:00 - 9:00
• Friday 9:00 - 6:00
• Saturday 9:00 - 5:00 (except closed for summer from mid June - September)

Because of the need to safeguard the many fragile and unique materials in the collection, Local History does not allow photocopying of certain materials including city directories, scrapbooks, many indexes and anything that was published more than 75 years ago.

Local History is located on the second floor of the Rundel Building and has ample space for many researchers.

The old local newspapers on microfilm, which begin in 1818, are housed in the new "Bausch & Lomb Public Library Building."

In the same room as the newspapers is a set of microfiche with the indexes to the NY State vital records. NY State began keeping vital records in 1880. The indexes only show the person's name, date of the event, place of the event and a reference number. Because of privacy restrictions, only births older than 75 years and marriages and deaths older than 50 years are open for research.

The B&L Building and the Rundel Building are connected to each other via a tunnel that runs under South Ave.

The library catalog, named "LIBRA," is searchable on the internet.

Monroe County Clerk's Office
39 West Main St.
Rochester, NY 14614

 Telephone: (716) 428-5123

 Hours: Mon. - Fri. 9:00 - 5:00

 They have deeds, mortgages, naturalization records, and divorce judgements. Most original records are now off-site. Microfilms of deeds and mortgages are available in the office. Naturalization records can be obtained usually within a day or two. Research rate: varies but $1 per page for copies. For more information, see the Monroe County Clerk information page.
 
 

Monroe County Department of Health
111 Westfall Road
Rochester, NY 14692

 Telephone: (716) 274-6140

 Hours: Mon. - Fri. 9:00 - 4:00

 They have original birth and death records beginning 1880. It is important to note that there are no indexes available for searching. All searches must be preformed by staff. NY State law says that birth records less than 75 years old and death records less than 50 years old are considered confidential although they usually will let you have a certificate for a direct line ancestor that is "newer" than the 75 years.
Rate: $11 per search (regardless if a certificate is found or not).

Note: Marriage records are still with the Town Clerks or the Rochester Records Management Office in the City of Rochester.

Monroe County Surrogate Court Office
Room 501
Civic Center
Exchange St.
Rochester, NY 14614

 Telephone: (716) 428-5200

 Hours: Mon. - Fri. 9:00 - 4:00

 They have probate records including wills and estate papers beginning with the formation of the County in 1821. All records are filed together in a file by decedent. The files occasionally include other things such as genealogy charts, death certificates and even cancelled checks. Records from before 1921 are in storage off-site so a couple of days may be necessary to get the records back to the office. The current price for storage retrieval is $4.30 for the first record and $2.15 for each additional record.

Records from 1921 to present have been filmed if the case is closed. The only paper records in the office are cases that are still open.

Research rates: By mail - $75 per search and $3 per copy. In person - search for free and paper copies are 25 cents (film copies $1).

The LDS Family History Library has filmed the index to all Surrogate Court records through 1970 and they also filmed the wills from 1821 - 1901 but they did not film the entire file. Search for available records at the LDS web site.

Rochester Records Management Office
414 Andrews St.
Rochester, NY

 Telephone: (716) 428-7331

 Hours: Mon. - Fri. 9:00 - 4:00

 This is the archives for the city of Rochester and they have the original marriage records for 1876 - 1967. These records are indexed 1876 - 1907 and may be searched in person. Remember that when looking for a marriage record:

1. People can get a marriage licence in any municipality in the state and then get married somewhere else. In that case the licence will be filed where the licence was obtained.
2. The City of Rochester was much smaller in the 19^th century than today. So places currently in Rochester may have been in the suburbs in the past.
3. Rochester is sometimes used as the name of the region and not just the City of Rochester, proper.

Rochester regional LDS Family History Centers

1. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

1400 Westfall Road
Brighton, NY 14618
Telephone: (716) 271-9454

Hours:

• Tues. and Thurs.: 9 - 3 and 7 - 9:30
• Fri. and Sat.: 9 - noon
2. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

460 Kreag Road
Pittsford, NY 14530
Telephone: (716) 248-9930

Hours:

• Tues. and Thurs.: 9 - 3 and 6:30 - 9:00
• Wed. and Fri.: 9 - 1:30
3. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

4088 Lake Road
Brockport, NY 14420
Telephone: (716) 637-2030

Hours:

• Tues. and Wed.: 9 - 3 and 7 - 9:00
• Thurs.: 9 - noon

Monroe County Historian

Rundel Building
115 South Ave.
Rochester, NY 14604

 The Monroe County Historian does not undertake genealogical research. The office has the original copies of the Monroe County portion of the NY State census for the years 1855 - 1925.  Assistance is available for those visiting the office in person. Phone: (716) 428-8352.

Go back to  Monroe County History and Genealogy Project- ALHN/AHGP
Send corrections or additions to: Margaret Steen at nycomonroe@usgennet.org