Due to network maintenance, online resources are not available on Sunday, October 12, from 6 am to 5 pm. Thank you for your patience.
Online Resources - Sunday, October 12
All Branches and Bookmobile Stops
Published:
Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 2:30pm
Delayed Branch Openings
The following locations have upcoming delayed openings due to Staff training drills.
Monday, October 20
Ancaster Branch, 10 am
Tuesday, October 21
Central Library, 10 am
Sherwood Branch, 10 am
You may visit nearby Branches for your library needs. www.hpl.ca/hours
All Branches and Bookmobile Stops
Published:
Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 2:00pm
Bookmobile Service Modification
On Wednesday, October 8, the Helen Detwiler (320 Brigade Drive) visit has been changed to 11-11:30 am this week. Thank you for your understanding.
Published:
Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 2:00pm
Branch Closures - Thanksgiving
All HPL Branches are closed on Thanksgiving Monday, October 13. Bookmobile is off the road. Extended Access and Study Hall services are not available. Regular service hours resume on Tuesday, October 14. Our Virtual Branch is open at hpl.ca.
All Branches and Bookmobile Stops
Published:
Monday, October 6, 2025 - 2:00pm
All Branches Closed for October 12
All branches close on Sunday, October 12, 2025 for Thanksgiving. This includes branches with Extended Access.
All Branches and Bookmobile Stops
Published:
Monday, October 6, 2025 - 2:00pm
Bookmobile Service Modification
Due to the ongoing Mohawk College Support Staff strike, the Bookmobile visit on Monday, October 6, is cancelled. You may select Terryberry Branch as an alternative location to pick up your Holds. On Wednesday, October 8, the Helen Detwiler visit is changed to 11-11:30 am this week.
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Bookmobile Stop:
Published:
Friday, September 26, 2025 - 3:00pm
Interlibrary Loan Service on Pause
Interlibrary Loan (ILLO) service will be temporarily paused starting Friday, September 26, due to continued negotiations between CUPW and Canada Post. We apologize for the inconvenience.
All Branches and Bookmobile Stops
Published:
Friday, September 26, 2025 - 1:00pm
Replacement and Damage Fees
Bring back your borrowed library items (due Oct 1 or later) within 28 days to avoid a replacement or lost fee. We'll remove the fee when you bring back your overdue items.
All Branches and Bookmobile Stops
Published:
Thursday, September 11, 2025 - 3:00pm
Kenilworth Branch - Temporary Closure (Sept 2 - Oct 14)
Due to roof repair maintenance, the Branch is temporarily closed from September 2 until October 14. Please visit the Red Hill, Parkdale, and Barton locations as your nearest branches for your library needs. Thank you for your patience.
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Published:
Monday, August 11, 2025 - 8:00am
Research Your House
New House in Westdale
Various sources can be used to document the history of a building. Except for well-known Hamilton-area homes, most do not have a ready-made history to consult. Therefore, the researcher must construct a history from scratch using available sources. This process can take time, and unfortunately, some properties may have very few, if any, historical records. To support your research, please refer to the Houses and Property Research Guide.
Local History and Archives contains various potentially useful resources to research houses. These records include:
These directories show names, addresses and telephone numbers for the Hamilton-Wentworth region.
Researchers and genealogists use city directories to trace individuals, families and businesses. They usually include an alphabetical listing of adult residents, with their occupations and addresses.
Tax assessment records help accurately date a building's construction and disclose its original owner and list of occupants.
These records detail the chain of ownership of a property using plan and lot number.
Local History and Archives has several large scale maps that show the shape, size and exact location of individual buildings.
If your building was known by a name in addition to its address, you can search under that heading in our card catalogue. In the Local History and Archives reading room, check the Where-to-Look card catalogue under Hamilton – Street Address and Number or Hamilton – Name of house for a citation to the Image Collection. You can also check photographs of the street the house is located on to see if your building is shown.
There are also specialized finding aids for other collections available in Local History and Archives.
To obtain more information about the people associated with the building, you may wish to check family papers, clipping files, census returns, genealogical indexes, funeral home indexes, cemetery indexes, promotional booklets, photographs, local publications and other sources within Local History and Archives.
Check in the Where-to-Look under the surname or ask for assistance at the Local History and Archives Information Desk.
There are also invaluable records that can be requested through the City of Hamilton's Property Record Search and through the Ontario Land Registry (OnLand).
