Collections & Research
The Lycoming County Historical Society has an extensive collection, including approximately 17,000 objects and 2,000 cubic feet of archival material, all available for study. This collection is the starting point for anyone interested in the area's history.
Our collections include:
- - an archives with over 2,000 rare documents and books, including deeds,
maps,
manuscript collections, local and county histories, city directories, ephemera and over 20,000
photographic images - - costumes and textiles (over 2,000)
- - American Indian artifacts from
our region, covering the Paleo-Indian, Archaic, Transitional,
Woodland and Contact Periods (over 5,000) - - industrial tools and implements dating from 1770 (over 5,000)
- - fine and decorative arts, furniture and toys dating from 1770 to 1990
We also have sports equipment, electronic and telecommunication equipment, personal artifacts and household objects, all providing a complete picture of life in Lycoming County.
To access this collection, you may contact us by phone, email or regular mail to make arrangements either to do the research yourself or to have the staff do it for you. Fees for staff-conducted research are $25.00 for the first hour and $20.00 for each additional hour, for up to four hours. Fees for members of LCHS are $15.00 for the first hour and $10.00 for each additional hour.
There is also a reference library
in the museum with both local & county history and an extensive
collection of genealogical materials. This library is staffed by volunteer members of the
Lycoming County Genealogical Society. It is open Tuesday - Saturday from 12:00 p.m. -
4:00 p.m., or by appointment. Researchers should contact the museum to set up an appointment. If
you would like someone to conduct family research for you, you may contact the Genealogical Society,
either at the museum’s phone number (570-326-3326) or at the Genealogical Society’s email
address: lycominglineage@gmail.com
*NEW*
Lycoming County
Women's History Collection
Williamsport
Women: Voices, Images, Actions 1875-1925
The Lycoming County Women's History Project makes available online materials related to the history of women in Lycoming County from collections of the Lycoming County Historical Society, Lycoming College, and the J. V. Brown Library. Documents selected highlight the history of local women in volunteer and reform organizations, education, the arts, the workplace, and private lives. The collection currently covers the time period 1875-1925, although that will expand as time and resources allow.
To explore this collection, click on the link above, then click on either "Access PA Digital Repository" or "Internet Archive" on the left menu.
LCHS recently received a handwritten copy of the Bible from the Bertand Library at Bucknell University. This monumental undertaking was completed by Williamsport grocer Edward M. Bates when he was in his 80s, from 1936 to 1940. The task took Mr. Bates about five years, and over a quart of ink. It includes all 66 books of the Bible, plus the Apocrypha. Mr. Bates' accomplishment was noted in the national newspaper cartoon Ripley's Believe It Or Not.