Hi George, Thanks so much for all your good info. Since the library has a good newspaper room, I think I will concentrate on that first. I am hoping to find quite a few obituaries, since birth/death/marriage certificates are very sparse to come by in PA, particularly prior to 1906. And if they are available, I can always get them by mail. Trenton has some of those horrible hand crank/no print machines also. It's so time consuming transferring them to a printer and back again. Oh well, we do love to do the research no matter the obstacles, right? I also want to visit the Harrisburg Cemetery and the East Harrisburg Cemetery while I am there. Then a trip to the Historical Society of Dauphin Co, of which I am a member, but have never been there. Then---if time permits, I will visit Perry Co. I have lots of ancestors in that county and have been there before, but always need to do more research. I'll just have to deal with the road construction and rush hour traffic I guess. There's really no way around that no matter where you go these days, even here in NJ. Thanks for the parking tip on City Island. I'll do that. I love to walk--just hope it's not raining!! Thanks again for your help. Susan [email protected] On Sat, 8 May 2004 14:28:52 -0400 "George F. Nagle" <[email protected]> writes: > Be advised that the state archives building is closed on Mondays. If > I have research to do in both places, I usually plan to spend Monday > in the state library. The state library, by the way, has a > fantastic genealogy room and a wonderful newspaper room, both > equipped with microform readers. There are additional readers in > the main library reading room, as well. The microfilm readers are > manually operated (hand crank), with no printing ability. There are > printing readers available, but only a few and the routine is to > research and locate information using the manual readers and then > take the film to the printers to make copies. > > Most staff members in both the archives and library are extremely > helpful and knowledgeable, but there are also a few who are not. I > think they've gotten better over the years (or maybe I've just > learned which ones to approach for help). > > Arrive early and bring lots of quarters if you plan to make copies. > The last time I was in the archives, the machines required tokens > that were only available in the museum shop, next door. Ask for > details when you check in. Don't take more than a notebook, pencils > (no pens) and very brief notes into the archives--they won't allow > much else. The library is more relaxed in their rules. > > Time saver tip: Have a few very specific things in mind that you > want to find. If you arrive with a vague plan to research the Smith > family tree, the staff will point you to general sources that won't > help much. If, on the other hand, you tell them you need to find > the birthdate of your great grandfather, who you think was born in > Carbon County circa 1903, they will be able to get you started with > very specific sources that will be of much more help. They have so > much in these repositories that it is easy to become overwhelmed. > > , there is a Dauphin Historical Society and a Historical Society of > Dauphin County. The latter is probably the one you want. Their > research room opens at 1 p.m. and is only open four days per week > (closed either Monday or Friday, I forget which). The librarian is > Warren Wirebach, an extremely knowledgeable man who can be of > immense help if you've done some groundwork first. > > Parking is a little tough and depends upon how far you want to walk. > There are parking garages and surface lots downtown, very close to > the capitol complex. However I usually park on City Island and walk > across the bridge into the downtown area. It costs three or four > dollars for the day and I can enjoy the view of the river, > riverfront park and the water gap. > > I'll let someone else handle the Mechanicsburg-Harrisburg route. > Beware of the highway construction and rush hour. > > Need more details? > > George F. Nagle > Editor, Afrolumens Project > http://www.afrolumens.org/ > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Susan J Fevola [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Saturday, May 08, 2004 1:06 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [PADAUPHI] TRIP TO HARRISBURG > > > I will be going to do research in the Harrisburg area, staying in > Mechanicsburg. I only have a couple of days so I want to make the > most > of my time. > > Would it be best to go to the State Library or the Archives first? > Is > there adequate parking? Is there a "best route" from Mechanicsburg > to > get to these places? > > Hoping to also get to the Dauphin Historical Society. > > Thanks for any local info that you can provide. > Susan > [email protected] > > ________________________________________________________________ > The best thing to hit the Internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! > Surf the Web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! > Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! > > > ==== PADAUPHI Mailing List ==== > List admin can be reached at [email protected] > > > > > > > ==== PADAUPHI Mailing List ==== > DAUPHIN COUNTY PA GEN-WEB site > http://www.maley.net/dauphin/ > > > ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the Internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the Web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!

Susan, just remember that not all newspapers have all issues extant anymore prior to the 20th century and the State Library may not have all papers. Also keep in mind that prior to perhaps the 1930s or so, obituaries are not as we see them now - generally on the same page of the paper and with a fair amount of information on the deceased and his/her family. Early on the obits could be only a few lines and moved around in the paper as space permitted.. So if you are looking for obits prior to 1906, be prepared to spend a fair amount of time searching for each one. Oh yes, the per copy cost is still a quarter per page; if no one else is searching, you can just stay at the reader/printer. I was just at the library yesterday for the first time in a few months. The genealogy area has been rearranged a bit though it looks like pretty much the same material. Much of the reference material has been entered in the computer catalog so do check there. Also some of the older books that had not been shelved because of their age/condition are now on microfiche. As George Nagle suggested, have an idea what type of information you are looking for as different things are located at the different sites. In particular the State Archives has land records, hard copies of the PA Archive series (State Library has microfiche), military records; assorted county records; census records. State Library has published family histories; assorted county and regional printed references; census films; newspapers (not all papers and not all issues); passenger arrivals at a number of ports. From Mechanicsburg to Harrisburg, there are probably two ways I would recommend. Either get over to I83 and take that to the Second Street exit just over the Susquehanna River - that takes you to downtown Hbg where you can park in a garage and walk to the places you are interested in or you can go to Market Square (the street opens into a wide square with some large structures on it - turn left and go straight to the Market Street bridge which would take you to City Island. Or have someone give you the directions so you can drive along the west side of the river til you pass a number of restaurants on your left to a light where you turn left onto the Market Street bridge which would take you to City Island from the other direction. Personally - I would pay $10-$15 to park in a garage so I wouldn't have to spend the extra time waiting for a bus to take me to and from City Island. Also, if you are going to go to the cemeteries: try to call the office in advance and make arrangements to meet the caretaker at the office. I know the office is not always open at the Harrisburg Cemetery but if you make an appointment, the caretaker will meet you and let you look through the records with him. Also this cemetery is right out the street from the back of the capital complex - not far from downtown. I'm not sure about Hbg East office policies. This place is farther from downtown. Happy hunting and enjoy our fair city!! Joan Bretz