Yesterday, for the first time, I travelled to the Sussex County NJ library (main branch in Frankford Township) to do genealogy research.

Little did I know about the fabulous collection of family information, Sussex County information, and NJ information they have there.

There are several areas to explore:

The Crawn Collection is on microfilm and it's from Francis Crawn who was an avid genealogist. You can find which family names are researched in the Crawn Collection here:

http://www.sussexcountylibrary.org/crawn.htm

The Library also has an online surname index where you can look for family names you're researching and determine where in the Library you might find associated research material. You can find the online surname index here:

http://www.sussexcountylibrary.org/pdf/surname_index.pdf

Many old copies of newspapers are on microfilm. There is also a Local History selection of books. One helpful book is Sussex County Marriages (slim volume but full of great information).

In the vertical files are folders by family name, and a full drawer of vertical files about cemeteries in Sussex County.

Finally, there's a Local History cabinet with more great resources and books.

You can find everything the Library has indexed here:

http://www.sussexcountylibrary.org/localhistory.htm

I spent just six hours there and could have spent sixty hours! I don't live in the area, so it's a journey to get there for me, but well worth the trip it if you have a family you are researching in Sussex County, NJ

Warmly,
Karyn