Bangor Maine Family History Center

The Bangor Family History Center serves Bangor, Maine, and surrounding areas, and is open to the public with no admission charge.

Center Contacts and Hours
Location Map:


 * Location Map

Address:


 * 639 Grandview Ave Bangor ME United States.
 * The Family History Center is located on the right side in the back wing of the building.
 * The words Family History Center are posted above the wing where the entrance is located.
 * Please ring the buzzer (to the left of the door) for access.


 * Language:English

Phone:


 * (207) 942-7677, press 2 for the Family History Center when prompted

E-mail:


 * [mailto:ME_Bangor@ldsmail.net ME_Bangor@ldsmail.net]

Open Hours:


 * Tuesday:10:00am-2:00pm and 6:00pm-8:00pm
 * Wednesday:10:00am-2:00pm and 6:00pm-8:00pm
 * Thursday:10:00am-2:00pm and 6:00pm-8:00pm
 * Saturday:10:00am-2:00pm

Holiday Schedule:

Closed snow-days (at least when Bangor schools are closed), holidays and holiday weekends, Church Conference Saturdays where time schedules would conflict (in 2016: April 2, April 30, October 1, October 22, and November 5). Closed Saturday, February 20, 2016.

Class Schedule (free and open to the public)

 * Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - 6 pm - monthly meeting of the Penobscot County Genealogical Society.
 * Wednesday, April 20, 2016 - 6 pm - monthly meeting of the Penobscot County Genealogical Society.


 * Saturday, May 14, 2016 - 9 am - 3 pm - Bangor Family Discovery Day - register at www.lds.org/topics/family-history/host-a-family-history-fair/signup.


 * Classes for the Bangor Family Discovery Day will include the following (MORE TO COME):
 * French-Canadian Research: If your ancestors come from Quebec, celebrate!   French Canadian records are among the best anywhere.  This class will look at some of the resources available, such as parish and census records, and research sources such as LaFrance, PRDH and the many marriage indexes.  We will also discuss some of the challenges, such as “dit” names and spelling variations that happen when French speakers move in with Yankees.
 * FamilySearch Part 1 : Building your family tree.  Getting started, adding in living relatives, linking to deceased relatives already in FamilySearch, using different tree views, printing charts, contacting other submitters using the “message” function.
 * FamilySearch Part 2 : Growing your family tree – FamilySearch makes it easy to find new information and back it up with sources.  Using Record Hints, attaching sources to document your tree, using Record Search, merging duplicates, and using help features
 * From Tree to Temple:  How to find and prepare your own family name to take to the temple.  This class will discuss the different strategies for those just beginning to build their family tree, those with a partial tree, and descendancy research for those with full trees.


 * Wednesday, October 19, 2016 - 6 pm - monthly meeting of the Penobscot County Genealogical Society.


 * Check out the online FamilySearch Research Courses at Link


 * Please email suggestions/requests for specific classes in Bangor.

Staff Training Meetings

 * One on one as requested by the Staff Member.

Collections

 * FamilySearch Catalog: This center has the ability to order any of the films and fiche available through the FamilySearch Catalog.
 * Books, over 1,430 microfilms, and over 580 fiche sets, primarily for Maine and other New England states. A smattering of books regarding other states. Some Canadian, British, and German films and books. 

Databases and Software

 * FHC Portal This center has access to the Family History Center Portal page which gives free access in the center to premium family history software and websites that generally charge for subscriptions.
 * Currently, these websites include 19th Century British Library Newspaper Digital Archive, Alexander Street Press - The American Civil War, Ancestry.com, Findmypast, Fold3.com, Historic Map Works, Kinpoint, MyHeritage, Access Newspaper Archive, Paper Trail, ProQuest Obituary Listings, Puzzilla.org, and World Vital Records.
 * ArkivDigital Online is available from the desktops.

Hardware and Equipment

 * 7 computers and 3 printers (one of the printers can copy to a pdf or jpg file)
 * 4 microfilm readers, equipped with monopods for mounting a digital camera to take pictures of film images (Note: Patrons may use their own camera or the FHC camera)
 * 1 digital camera and Kingston card reader to transfer images (Note: Patrons should bring a USB or thumb drive to receive the images)
 * 4 microfiche readers 

Staff Research Specialties
(Include sections for any other services your center provides. Add additional sections for those services. See the Bountiful and Chattanooga FHC pages for examples.)

Resources in the Local Area

 * Bangor Public Library: Link


 * Fogler Library, University of Maine, Orono: Link


 * Penobscot Maritime Museum, Searsport: Link


 * Maine State Archives, Augusta: Link


 * Maine State Library, Augusta: Link


 * Maine State Museum, Augusta: Link

Links

 * Online Film Ordering: Link


 * Online Catalog for the University of Maine System Libraries, Bangor Public Library, Maine State Library, and Maine State Archives is called URSUS, which is available at Link


 * FamilySearch Research Wiki article for Maine: Maine Genealogy

Volunteer at the Center

 * We appreciate everyone who comes to help.


 * Please email (see above for our email address) if you are interested in helping.