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Community History Archives

Community History Archive Partner

North Haven Memorial Library

North Haven, Connecticut

Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of North Haven.

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4Titles

Explore publications and collections from the past.

1970 to 2011Dates represented

See individual titles for available dates.

157,428Archive pages

Historical pages reported for this collection.

Explore local history

Discover the people, places, and stories of North Haven, Connecticut.

Discover another side of North Haven, Connecticut through newspapers preserved in the North Haven Memorial Library's digital archive. Its four titles include material from 1970 to 2011.

You can open the archive using the link below.
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  • Selected titles

    In the collection shared by North Haven Memorial Library, you will find “North Haven Citizen” and “Post”.

  • Free and open access

    No subscription or payment required.

  • A closer look

    An earlier generation comes into view through the stories its newspapers chose to report, placing familiar names and events within the concerns of their time.

The reporting of earlier years offers a way to explore how events were understood as they happened and how local experiences became part of the historical record. A family story, a classroom project or curiosity about a familiar place can lead to a closer look at the community and the lives of earlier generations. Explore the archive online for free, without a subscription.

Explore the collection

Titles in this collection

Browse four titles and 157,428 digitized pages, with material from 1970 to 2011. Through a partnership with Advantage Archives, North Haven Memorial Library shares these sources from the past. Some years or items may be missing between the dates shown.

If you are tracing a family connection or exploring local history, the titles below offer a place to begin and a thread to follow.

North Haven Citizen

21,723 pages from 2008 to 2011

North Haven Post

50,100 pages from 1970 to 2007

Post

56,199 pages from 1984 to 2005

The North Haven Post

29,406 pages from 1984 to 1990

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Partner Story

Our History

The North Haven Memorial Library has a storied history that dates back to 1883 when Silas L. Bradley of Auburn, NY, left a bequest of $1,000 to establish a library in his native town of North Haven. After a town meeting held on September 5, 1883, seven residents were chosen to incorporate the library. In 1884, a charter was granted to the Bradley Library Association, which opened its doors on October 2, 1884, in the home of Dr. Austin Lord, with Miss Alice Lord as its first librarian.

In 1887, the library moved to the newly constructed Memorial Town Hall due to the need for more space. It was initially funded through subscriptions and donations, including a generous gift from Mrs. Jane Bradley, the widow of its original benefactor. By 1893, the townspeople voted to provide $150 to support the library, stipulating that it be free and open to the public.

The library's name changed in 1907 from the Bradley Association to the North Haven Memorial Library to acknowledge the importance of memorial bequests in its establishment and to encourage future donations. Significant donations in the following decades facilitated the construction of a new library, which was dedicated in 1938. Designed by Robert Booth in the Colonial Revival style, the building served the community until the late 1960s.

In 1968, a building committee was appointed to plan a new facility, and the current library opened on June 25, 1972. This 22,000 square-foot building included a community room and a dedicated Children’s Department. In the late 1990s, further renovations were needed to enhance library services. After a brief closure, the renovated library opened on December 3, 2001, featuring expanded facilities and increased accessibility.

Partner Story

Our Mission

The North Haven Memorial Library is dedicated to providing the community with access to a wide range of resources, programs, and services that promote literacy, lifelong learning, and community engagement. Through its commitment to innovation and inclusivity, the library aims to enrich the lives of all residents in North Haven.

Local History

Did You Know?

The North Haven Memorial Library's commitment to community engagement is exemplified by its outdoor reading garden, dedicated on September 27, 2003, as a gift from the North Haven Memorial Library Association. This garden serves as a peaceful retreat for reading and reflection, further enhancing the library's role as a community hub.

North Haven Memorial Library photo 1

More ways to explore and share local history

Research Guidance

Look for the story behind a result

The history of North Haven includes individual lives as well as events remembered by the wider community. In the digital archive shared by the North Haven Memorial Library, begin with a name, place or date connected with the story you want to explore. When using historical newspapers, try alternate spellings and nearby dates, then read the surrounding page to place a local story in its time. Compare later reporting or another available title to explore different perspectives rather than treating one account as the whole story. Search a person, place, or event with a second term, then compare the date and context of each result. A repeated name needs more evidence before it identifies the same person or connects two parts of a story.

After recording the issue and page, search a second term tied to the result and compare the surrounding dates and accounts. Keep matching names provisional until the place and context fit. This can turn one result into a better question without turning a repeated name into a confirmed story.

Capture the title, date, and page or item location for a detail you may want to revisit. Label your interpretation as your reading, not the source's own words. Keep enough context with the note that another reader can retrace it.

Review collection titles

Community Partnership

Keeping local history a community resource

This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the North Haven Memorial Library, its community, and Advantage Archives. Together, these partnerships preserve local sources and give people a way to explore, learn from, and share the history around them.

Advantage Archives covers ongoing archive hosting, storage, development, and maintenance. The institution and its community do not pay a subscription, seat license, annual support contract, or other recurring archive-service charge. Local history remains a community resource, not a subscription to maintain.

Would you like to see more of your community's history preserved and accessible? Start a conversation with your library, newspaper publisher, historical or genealogical society, museum, or school about the materials they would like to share and a possible partnership with Advantage Archives.

Learn about partnerships
Read All About It

Stories, research tips, and archive news

Read All About It connects archive research with the people and institutions preserving local history. Explore partner and community stories, project updates, research ideas, and perspectives on digitization, education, and working with primary sources. Use the articles as a starting point for your next question or a new way to share a discovery.

Newest published articles

March 18, 2025

It’s Your Community’s History, So Why Rent Something You Own?

We believe that history belongs to the communities where it was made - not locked behind paywalls or inaccessible due to budget restrictions. Subscription-based services and large content aggregators are generally more concerned with "content" and less concerned with the history that content contains. Their models typically involve a reoccurring charge for a plan that renews annually or licensing agreements with the library based on population served or circulation numbers. You are essentially Renting Access To YOUR History.
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