Oshawa Public Libraries

The Local History Room at the Oshawa Public Libraries holds a variety of resources for those interested in researching their family history or the history of the local area. We have a large collection of pamphlets, photographs, maps, and texts detailing life and business in Oshawa as well as information about early Ontario County and Durham Region. In particular, we have several items and texts relating to the McLaughlin family and the development and history of General Motors of Canada.

The Local History collection also includes a genealogical reference collection, such as city directories for the region dating back to 1923, telephone books, and general how- to books. Microfilms of the local Oshawa newspaper (some dates are missing), the Globe and Mail, and Toronto Star are also available. It costs $0.15 to print from the microfilm machines, or you can save your information to a flash drive/USB key for free.

Many of the photographs in the library’s collection are available online through OurOntario at Oshawa Images. You can also access an index of vital notices (births, marriages, deaths) and articles online through the Oshawa News Index. The staff are always working to add more items to these indexes and to the library’s online archive of digitized items, which includes our City Directories form 1921-1950 and some of the earliest books and pamphlets on Oshawa’s history.

The Local History Room is located at the McLaughlin Branch (across from city hall) and is a reference collection only. We do have duplicates of some books, which patrons can borrow. Much of the collection has been catalogued and is searchable online or in the library.

For more information or help with your research, please contact:                                         

Nicole Adams, Genealogy and Local History Librarian           

905-579-6111, ext. 5243

McLaughlin Branch

65 Bagot Street(at Centre)                                                                                                         

Oshawa, ON   L1H 1N2

Hours:                                                                                                                                           

Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 9:00-5:00

Tuesday, Thursday: 9:00-8:00

Saturday: 2:30 – 5:00

Sunday: Closed