Databases useful for doing genealogy and local history, and libraries that own them:
A to Z Databases
Arlington Heights
Cary
Cook Memorial
Mount Prospect
St. Charles
Access World News (Newsbank)
Use this archive to view, save and print articles dating from 1759 to 1977 from smaller newspapers across the country. Use the Advanced Search to see if a newspaper from a specific city is included.
Ela Area
Prospect Heights Public Library
Schaumburg Township
Algonquin Area Obituaries Index
Algonquin
American Ancestors (in library use only) Formerly New England Ancestors)
Hundreds of searchable databases including vital records, cemetery transcriptions, marriage and death indexes, family histories and more.
Arlington Heights
Cook Memorial
Schaumburg Township
Wheaton
America's Newspapers (Chicagoland Edition)
Arlington Heights
Ela Area
America's Obituaries & Death Notices (Newsbank)
(A collection of newspaper obituaries and death notices from newspapers across the country)
Arlington Heights
Batavia
Glenview
Indian Trails
Palatine
Schaumburg Township
Ancestry Library Edition
Algonquin
Antioch
Arlington Heights
Barrington
Batavia
Belvidere
Cary
Chicago
Cook Memorial
Crystal Lake
Des Plaines
Downers Grove
Ela Area
Glenview
Highland Park
Huntley
Indian Trails
Joliet
Morton Grove
Mt. Prospect
Niles
Oak Lawn
Palatine
Poplar Creek
Prospect Heights Public Library
Schaumburg Township
St. Charles
Town and Country Library (Elburn)
Wauconda
Wheaton
Wilmette
Zion Benton
Arkivdigital
Arlington Heights
Aurora Beacon (microfilm - 1848-1901, 1902-1916, 1916-1917)
Batavia
ArchivDigital (Swedish Genealogy Records)
Cook Memorial
Batavia Chronicle (1976-1990 - microfilm)
Batavia
Batavia Herald (1893-1976 - microfilm)
Batavia
Batavia Republican (June 14, 1990-March 9, 1995 - microfilm)
Batavia
Biography In Context
Arlington Heights
Chicago
Cook Memorial
Downers Grove
Ela Area
Palatine
Biography Resource Center
Algonquin
Glenview
Biography Virtual Reference Library
Ela Area
Black Life in America
Huntley
Chicago Area Newspapers
Algonquin
St. Charles
Chicago Community Coverage (Newsbank)
Arlington Heights
Wheaton
Chicago Tribune Current
Covers 1985-Present
Barrington
Chicago
Cook Memorial
Des Plaines
Downers Grove
Ela Area
Glenview
Mt. Prospect
Oak Lawn
Palatine
Poplar Creek
Schaumburg
St. Charles
Wheaton
Wilmette
Chicago Tribune Historical (Proquest)
Covers 1849-Present
Arlington Heights
Barrington
Cook Memorial
Batavia
Des Plaines
Downers Grove
Ela Area
Glenview
Highland Park
Indian Trails
Mt. Prospect
Niles
Palatine
Schaumburg Township
St. Charles
Wheaton
Wilmette
Chicago Tribune Historical Archive: (Newsbank)
Algonquin
Arlington Heights
Chicago
Cook Memorial
Des Plaines
Morton Grove
Oak Lawn
Schaumburg Township
Chicago Tribune On Digital Microfilm (Proquest)
Des Plaines
Chicagoland News Source (Newsbank)
Indian Trails
Daily Herald (1995-present)
Arlington Heights
Barrington
Cook Memorial
Des Plaines
Ela Area
Glenview
Palatine
Daily Herald Digital Archive (1901-2013)
Arlington Heights
Mount Prospect
Schaumburg
Wauconda
Downers Grove Obituary Index
Downers Grove
Downers Grove Reporter 1895 – 1922 Digitized
Downers Grove
Downers Grove Reporter 1895 – 2018 Microfilm
Downers Grove
Find My Past
Arlington Heights
Town and Country Library (Elburn)
Wilmette
Fold 3
Valuable and unique content that consists of more than 60 million pages of historical documents and personal histories; includes millions of records available from the National Archives and other institutions. These digital images of records represent a growing collection of historic documents.
Arlington Heights
Barrington
Cary
Cook Memorial
Ela Area
Glenview
Huntley
Mt. Prospect
Palatine
Schaumburg Township
St. Charles
Wheaton
Genealogy Bank
Indian Trails
Prospect Heights Public Library
Schaumburg
St. Charles
Town and Country Library (Elburn)
Glenview Obituary Index
Glenview
Hanover Township
Hanover Township Treasurer & Schools, 1850-March 1978. Microfilm only
Hanover Township Town Records, 1850-1978. Microfilm only
Heritage Hub
Arlington Heights
Barrington
Huntley
Mount Prospect
Prospect Heights Public Library
Wheaton
Heritage Quest Online
Algonquin
Antioch
Arlington Heights
Barrington
Arlington Heights
Barrington
Batavia
Belvidere
Cary
Chicago
Crystal Lake
Deerfield
Des Plaines
Downers Grove
Ela Area
Glenview
Highland Park
Huntley
Indian Trails
Joliet
Mt. Prospect
Morton Grove
Mount Prospect
Niles
Oak Lawn
Palatine
Poplar Creek
Schaumburg Township
St. Charles
Town and Country Library (Elburn)
Wauconda
Wheaton
Wilmette
Zion Benton
Historic Elburn Newspapers
Town and Country Library (Elburn)
Historic Map Works
St. Charles
Town and Country Library (Elburn)
Illinois Public Records
Antioch
Barrington
Chicago
Cook Memorial
Downers Grove
Morton Grove
Palatine
Schaumburg Township
St. Charles
Wauconda
Kane County Chronicle
Batavia (1990- present)
St. Charles (1990-present)
Town and Country Library (Elburn)
Lake Zurich Courier (1995-current)
Ela Area
Libertyville Newspapers (Link to VITA Page)
Cook Memorial
Milestone Documents in American History
Primary source documents pertaining to the history of the United States
MyHeritage Library Edition
Arlington Heights
Des Plaines
Downers Grove
St. Charles
New York Times (June 1, 1980 - Present)
Arlington Heights
Downers Grove
Cook Memorial
Ela Area
Palatine
*New York Times Historical Archive
The complete paper--cover-to-cover--from its first issue in 1851 to 2002.
Barrington
Cook Memorial
Des Plaines
Highland Park
Schaumburg Township
St. Charles
Wilmette
New York Times On Digital Microfilm (Proquest)
Arlington Heights
Des Plaines
Newsbank: America's Newspapers
Arlington Heights
Barrington
Glenview
Deerfield
St. Charles
Newspaper Archive
Barrington (IL only)
Mt. Prospect
Palatine
Poplar Creek
Schaumburg
Wheaton
Newspapers.com
Arlington Heights
Belvidere
Cook Memorial
Ela Area
Glenview
Huntley
McHenry
Mount Prospect
Palatine
Wauconda
Wheaton
Wilmette
Newsstand (Proquest)
Des Plaines
Indian Trails
Oak Lawn newspaper index
Oak Lawn
Obituaries (Proquest)
Des Plaines
OCLC FirstSearch
Algonquin
Barrington
Batavia
Cary
Downers Grove
Glenview
Indian Trails
Wauconda
Reference Solutions (formerly ReferenceUSA, Now Data Axle)
Algonquin
Arlington Heights
Barrington
Batavia
Chicago
Glenview
Deerfield
Des Plaines
Downers Grove
Ela Area
Highland Park
Indian Trails
Morton Grove
Niles
Palatine
Schaumburg Township
Wauconda
Wheaton
Wilmette
Sanborn Maps of Illinois
Large scale plans of a city or town drawn to the scale of 50 feet to an inch. Search the archive of maps from 1867-1970.
Chicago
Cook Memorial
Wheaton
St. Charles Chronicle/Kane County Chronicle (1842-1993)
St. Charles (Called Local History Newspapers on their website)
US Newsstream
Glenview
Who's Who
Wilmette
Wilmette Beacon (2011-ongoing)
Wilmette (In house use only)
Wilmette Life (2008-ongoing)
Wilmette (In house use only)
Wilmette Local History records (local papers and indexed obituaries)
Wilmette
World Cat Discovery
Arlington Heights
Cary
Downers Grove
Mount Prospect
Wilmette