This page contains most of the resources you will need to research the history of your house. If you are new to house history research, please visit the Get Started section. For a quick overview of the process visit 10 Steps to Researching the History of Your House.
Establishment
Worcester was formed in 1684 as a town and in 1848 as a city. The area was originally settled in 1673.
Land Records / Deed Research
Deeds are found at the county level in Massachusetts. Worcester is in Worcester County and is the county seat. Deeds for Worcester, Massachusetts are available online in two places:
- The Worcester County, Massachusetts Registry of Deeds (1731 – present)
- FamilySearch.org (1731-1865) [access with free account]
All Worcester County deeds are available online. If you visit the Worcester Registry of Deeds in person, you will only have access to the deeds on computers. They no longer provide access to the deed books.
Worcester County Registry of Deeds
90 Front Street, Worcester, MA 01608, Suite C201
(508) 368-7000
Worcester County was formed in 1731. If your house was built before 1731, then you will need to look for the older deeds in the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds or the Middlesex County Registry of Deeds.
Census Records (and MA State Census Records)
The most common census records are the US Federal Census Records but Massachusetts also has state census records. Census records help you discover the families that lived in your house. Federal census records are available every 10 years from 1790 to 1950 with the exception of 1890.
U.S Federal Census Records (1790-1950)
Available from:
- Ancestry.com ($) – see if your local library has institutional access free for patrons
- FamilySearch.org (free with account)
- MyHeritage.com ($)
- AmericanAncestors.org ($)
- FindMyPast ($)
Massachusetts State Census Records (1855 & 1865)
Available from:
- Ancestry.com ($) – 1855 census and 1865 census
- FamilySearch.org (free with account) – 1855 census and 1865 census
- AmericanAncestors.org ($)
Vital Records
Vital records provide the details about births, marriages and deaths for the people who previously lived in your house.
Find Worcester, MA Vital Records Online:
- Ancestry.com ($)
- FamilySearch.org (free with account) – Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001
- AmericanAncestors.org ($)
- MyHeritage.com
Probate Records
Probate records for the city of Worcester are found in Worcester County, Massachusetts Probate Court records (1731-present) which are available both online and in-person.
In-person
Worcester County Probate Court
225 Main Street, Worcester, MA 02021 01608
(508) 831-2200
Check website for hours
Online
- Ancestry.com ($) – Massachusetts, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991
- AmericanAncestors.org ($) – Worcester County, MA: Index to Probate records, 1731-1881 and Worcester County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1731-1881
- FamilySearch.org (free with account) – Massachusetts, Worcester County, probate case files, 1731-1925
Preservation Publications
The Massachusetts Historical Commission provides access to historic building surveys at is website MACRIS: Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System (MACRIS). Once at the site, search specifically by town. You can refine by address and historic name.
Maps
Worcester-specific maps:
- 1795 Plan of Worcester (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1829 Plan of the Village of Worcester by Edward E. Phelps (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1831 Plan of Worcester by H. Stebbins (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1833 Map of Worcester by Herman Stebbins and Clarendon Harris (Library of Congress)
- c. 1850-1860 Map of the City of Worcester by Phinehas Ball (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1857 Map of Worcester County, Massachusetts by H.F. Walling (Library of Congress)
- 1857 Map of Worcester County, Massachusetts (Yale University Library)
- 1861 Plan of the central part of Worcester by G. Valentine (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1870 Atlas of the City of Worcester by F.W. Beers (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1870 Atlas of Worcester County by F.W. Beers (Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center)
- 1874 Map of the City of Worcester by S.P. Rolt Triscott (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1878 City of Worcester by O.H. Bailey (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1878 Map of the City of Worcester by S.P. Rolt Triscott (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1886 Atlas of the City of Worcester by Griffith Morgan Hopkins Jr. (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1891 Pocket Map of the City of Worcester by J.J. Van Valkenburg (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1896 Atlas of the City of Worcester by L.J. Richards & Co. (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1898 Atlas of Worcester County by L.J. Richards & Co. (Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center)
- 1898 Road Map of Worcester County, Mass. by L.J. Richards & Co. (Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center)
- 1911 Atlas of the City of Worcester by Harold H. Richards (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1919 Map of Worcester, Mass by Drew Allis Co. (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1922 Atlas of the City of Worcester by Harold H. Richards (Digital Commonwealth)
- 1892- 1936 Worcester Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (Library of Congress)
Maps are also available online from many website such as:
- Ancestry.com ($)
- Hathi Trust,
- David Rumsey Map Collection,
- Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library
- The Library of Congress
- Digital Commonwealth
City Directories & Residents Lists
City Directories were typically published every year. Because of that they are great for filling in the gaps between the 10 year spread of census records. They are also helpful to identify when people move from place to place.
City Directories are available online at the major database sites like Ancestry.com ($), MyHeritage.com ($) and FamilySearch.org. They are also found in local libraries and archives.
Tax Records
Tax records provide the value of property through the years. These can be a great indicator of when changes were made to a property. Check your local library, Town Hall or Archive.org for Town Annual Reports which contain the tax records.
Newspapers
Many old newspapers are available online through Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com, AmericanAncestors.org, GenealogyBank.com, Newspapers.com, OldNews.com, the Boston Public Library, the American Antiquarian Society (Worcester, MA), Community History Archives. The Ancestor Hunt website is also great for finding more newspaper resources.
Cemetery Information
Worcester, Massachusetts cemeteries:
- All Faiths Cemetery
- Bnai Brith Lodge Cemetery
- Chevra Kadisha Cemetery
- College of the Holy Cross Cemetery
- Hope Cemetery
- Mechanic Street Burying Ground
- Notre Dame Cemetery
- Old Burial Place
- Old Swedish Cemetery
- Quinsigamond Cemetery
- Saint John’s Cemetery
- Sons of Jacob Cemetery
- Worcester Common Burial Ground
- Worcester Rural Cemetery
- Worcester public library
- Notre Dame du Lac Cemetery
Cemetery Information
- FindaGrave.com – Worcester, MA
- City of Worcester – Hope Cemetery
- Museum of Worcester – Cemeteries and Gravestones – Great resources
Local Resources
- Museum of Worcester (free admission through 1/23/2026)
- Preservation Worcester
- Preservation Worcester – Historic Marker Program
- Worcester Historical Commission
- American Antiquarian Society
- The City of Worcester – Worcester History
- Worcester Public Library – Local History and Genealogy
- Worcester Public Library – A History of Your City Streets (pdf)
- The Worcester Black History Project
Further Reading
Apkarian-Russell, Pamela E. Armenians of Worcester (Images of America). Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2000.
Crane, John C. Peter Whitney, and His History of Worcester County. Worcester, Mass. Franklin P. Rice, 1889. Available at Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/peterwhitneyhish1889cran/page/n9/mode/2up
Crane, Ellery Bicknell. Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts: with a history of Worcester Society of Antiquity. New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1907. Available at Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/historichomesins02cran_0/page/n9/mode/2up
Emerson, Willam A. and Franklin P. Rice. Worcester Legends; Incidents, Anecdotes, Reminiscences, etc., connected with the early history of Worcester, Mass., and vicinity. Worcester: Denholm & McKay co., 1905. Available at Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/worcesterlegends00emer/page/n5/mode/2up
Greenwood, Janette Thomas Greenwood. First Fruits of Freedom: The Migration of Former Slaves and their Search for Equlity in Worcester, Massachusetts, 1862-1900. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009.
Helali, Christopher J. Greeks of Worcester (Images of America series). Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2022.
Hultgren, William O., Eric J. Salomonsson and Frank J. Morrill. Worcester: 1880 -1920. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2003.
Hurd, D. Hamilton, History of Worcester County, Massachusetts: with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men.. Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co., 1889. Available at Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/historyofworcest02hurd/page/n3/mode/2up
Kemp, Barton. Worcester Volume II (Images of America series). Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 1998.
Kovaleski, Dave. Hidden History of Worcester. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2021.
Lincoln, William. History of Worcester, Massachusetts from Its Earliest Settlement to September 1836. Worcester: Charles Hersey, 1862. Available at Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/historyofworcest00hers/page/n7/mode/2up
Marvin, Abijah P. History of Worcester in the War of the Rebellion. Worcester: Published by the author, 1880. Available at Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/historyofworcest00marvi/page/n7/mode/2up
Morrill, Frank J., William O. Hultgren and Eric J. Salomonsson. Worcester (Postcard History series). Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2005.
Moynihan, Kenneth J. A History of Worcester, 1674-1848. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2007.
Nason, Rev. Elias. A Gazetteer of the State of Massachusetts. Boston: B. Russell, 1890. Available at Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/gazetteerofstate00naso/page/n5/mode/2up
Nutt, Charles. History of Worcester and Its People. New York City: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1919. Available at Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/historyofworcest03nuttc/page/n7/mode/2up
Proko, Barbara, John Krashka Jr. and Janice Baniukiewicz Stickles. The Polish Community of Worcester (Images of America series). Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2003.
Proko, Barbara, Janice Baniukiewicz Stickles and Our Lady of Czestochowa Guild of Catholic Women. Worcester County’s Polish Community. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2007.
Rice, Franklin P. A Summary Military History of Worcester. Worcester, Mass.: Putnam, Davis & Company, 1895. Available at Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/summarymilitaryh00rice/page/n3/mode/2up
Salomonsson, Eric J., Phillip C. Becker and William O. Hultgren. Swedes of Greater Worcester Revisited (Images of America series). Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2005.
Salomonsson, Eric J. Swedish Heritage of Greater Worcester. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2015.
Tymeson, Mildred McClary. Rural Retrospect: A Parallel History of Worcester and Its Rural Cemetery. Worcester: Albert W. Rice, 1956. Available at Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/ruralretrospectp00tyme/page/n9/mode/2up
Worcester Bank & Trust Company. Some historic houses of Worcester; a brief account of the houses and taverns that fill a prominent part in history of Worcester, together with interesting reminiscences of their occupants. Boston, MA: Walton Advertising Company, 1919. Available at Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/somehistorichous01worc/page/n9/mode/2up
Worcester Town Records and Records of the Proprietors of Worcester. Internet Archive https://archive.org/search?query=subject%3A%22Worcester+%28Mass.%29+–+History+Sources%22
Yeulenski, Lois. Worcester (Images of America series). Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 1994.
