Among the most useful tools for the local historian are business and city directories.
The Library's collection currently includes a number of nineteenth and early twentieth century directories for the Waterloo region, including :
A rare related item is: Assessment roll of the Town of Berlin of 1897.
Special Collections holds restored paper copies of issues of Berliner Journal for the years 1859 to 1889. The Berliner Journal was a weekly that ran from 1859 to 1917 and which has been described as the principal German newspaper in Canada of that time.
The University of Waterloo Library's microfilm collection includes many of the newspapers issued in the communities of Kitchener and Waterloo over the years.
The Kitchener-Waterloo Record has undergone numerous changes of title since it began publication. Here is how they are listed in the University of Waterloo's online catalogue:
For more primary sources related to the Record, visit:
A 1914 poster, Public sale of farmstock & implements, recalls a farm auction held in March 1914.
The Library holds a selection of printed ephemera of interest to local historians, such as, Prospectus, Great International Sangerfest ... to be held in the Town of Berlin ... 1886 . This brochure describes the music festival which is considered to be the precursor of the present-day celebration known as Oktoberfest.
Local social, economic, and cultural history is documented in ephemeral items like the programmes of the Kitchener-Waterloo Philharmonic Choir from the 1930's and 1940's, the Kitchener-Waterloo Philatelic Society membership list, April 1st, 1955, calendars from the Waterloo Trust and Savings Co. from the 1940's, and Ladies' golf fixtures 1915 from the Grand River Country Club Limited.
Early government documents of local interest in the collection include:
Journal of the proceedings and by-laws of the Municipal Council of the County of Waterloo (issues from 1851 to 1900; some missing).
Beginning with By-law #1, which describes the corporate seal for the Village of Berlin, by-laws related to such diverse matters as "the running at large of certain kinds of Stock or Cattle", regulations on "the assize and weight of bread" (the purchaser may demand that his/her bread be weighed at time of delivery), and the taking of a census of the clergymen and churches are listed. The volume also contains a biographical listing of all local clergymen.
Special Collections also houses a number of genealogies and family histories as well as several hundred monographs of local interest, ranging in date from the early 19th century to the present. One of the most interesting of these is the 1907(?)publication, Busy Berlin, which contains 37 photographs, 18 engravings, and 44 descriptions of local businesses and factories.
Yearbooks from local high schools, such as The Grumbler (1924-1941/1942,1945,1948/1949-1966), and Specula Galtonia(1926-1928) from Galt Collegiate Institute are also available.
To locate this material, please consult the Library's search tool, Primo.
Several specialized reference tools housed in the Doris Lewis Rare Book Room are also helpful in locating information of local interest. Electronic versions of the Waterloo Regional History Bibliography,and the Ontario History Index, are available on a public workstation in the Doris Lewis Rare Book Room. A print version of the Waterloo Regional History Bibliography is also available.
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