The Family History Library has many local histories and handbooks to help you with your research. Sources for studying the history of Pennsylvania include:

Egle, William Henry. An Illustrated History of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Civil, Political, and Military from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Including Historical Descriptions of Each County in the State, Their Towns, and Industrial Resources. Philadelphia: E. M. Gardner, 1880. (FHL book 974.8 H2eg; film 1697290 item 11; computer number 379103.)

Donehoo, George P. Pennsylvania; A History. 9 vol. contents: [1-4] History. [5-9] Biography. New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 1926-1931. (FHL book 974.8 H2ph; vols. 4, 5, and 8 are on 3 FHL films beginning with 1320599 item 5; computer number 33067.)

Stevens, Sylvester Kirby. Pennsylvania: The Heritage of a Commonwealth. 4 vol. West Palm Beach, Florida: The American Historical Company, 1968. (FHL book 974.8 H2sp; computer number 170540.)

Pennsylvania has the following excellent bibliographic resources for materials on history:

Bining, Arthur C., et al. Writing on Pennsylvania History: A Bibliography. Harrisburg, Pa.: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1946. (FHL book 974.8 A3bw; computer number 251166.) This and the following book often provide comments about the value of the source being described.

Wilkinson, Norman B. Bibliography of Pennsylvania History. 2d ed. Harrisburg, Pa.: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1957. (FHL book 974.8 H23b; film 1036387 item 3; computer number 170555.) This book updates and expands the previous book.

Wall, Carol. Bibliography of Pennsylvania History: A Supplement. Harrisburg, Pa.: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1976. (FHL book 974.8 H23b supp.; film 1036387 item 4; computer number 251325.) This and the following book continue the effort of the previous works although they do not provide comments on the value of any listing.

Trussell, John B. B. Jr. Pennsylvania Historical Bibliography. Vols. 1-6. Harrisburg, Pa.: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1979-1989. (FHL book 974.8 H23p; computer number 40744.) This work updates the bibliographies cited above. The library has vol. 1 only.

A very helpful source in addition to the above bibliographies is Dennis B. Downey and Francis J. Bremer, A Guide to the History of Pennsylvania (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1993; FHL book 974.8 H23g; computer number 13147). Of special value is the description of research collections in Pennsylvania archives and manuscript repositories. However, it does not include genealogy societies.

Potentially helpful histories of Pennsylvania counties compiled in 1939-1942 is Historical Records Survey (Pennsylvania), Notes on County Histories and Points of Interest for American Guide Series (FHL films 1016396-401; computer number 374824). The counties are filed mostly in alphabetical order, and while a general format seems to be followed, they vary in the kind of information given.

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