The Plainfield History Collection

The Plainfield Collection includes historical and contemporary materials about the city of Plainfield, NJ. The Plainfield Collection is comprised of historical and contemporary materials about the place and its inhabitants. It contains city directories dating back to the 1870s, high school yearbooks, family histories, bound organization records as well as monographs detailing the cultural, social and historical aspects of life in Plainfield. Items from the city government and social services are also part of these holdings.

The Catalogue of the Plainfield History Collection*, published in 2002, provides quite a comprehensive guide to the contents of the collection. Additions are made on a regular basis, please contact us for the most current information.

*(Adobe PDF file - download Adobe)

Local Organizations' Records
Complete List of Organizations

The Library holds records of more than 110 local clubs and organizations, from the late nineteenth century to the present. They contain important documents including: charters, constitutions & by-laws, articles of incorporation, financial reports, membership lists, annual reports, newspaper clippings, photographs, and scrapbooks kept by many local associations.

Detwiller Blueprint Collection
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This unique collection of 15,000 architectural drawings and blueprints documents the rich history of Plainfield's architectural development. It includes residences, houses of worship, businesses, and multifamily dwellings from 1887 to the present. The drawings have been microfilmed and digitized for preservation and Internet access.

Further Information:
Complete History of the Charles H. Detwiller Collection

Related Collection:
Detwiller Private Papers at Rutgers University

Local and Area Newspapers
Complete List of Holdings

The Plainfield Periodical Collection includes 23 newspapers and magazines spanning 160 years of local history. These holdings include microfilmed copies as well as broadsides. The Courier News on microfilm is available in the upstairs reference section.

Plainfield City Directories

The Local History department holds city directories from the 1870s through 1982, when current phone books came into existance. The city directories are available in print, on microfilm and in an online searchable PDF format.

Because of copyright issues, city directories are not available online. Please contact the Reference Desk or Local History department to make an appointment for assistance using the online city directories.

Local Authors Collection
List of Plainfield Authors

This collection includes a broad array of books by more than 100 local authors. A recent inventory showed that Plainfield has had authors since the early 1800's writing about everything from science to poetry to children's books. Authors include: Van Wyck Brooks, Judy Blume, Adele DeLeeuw and many others.

Local and New Jersey Maps
Complete List of Maps

Recently inventoried, this collection includes 98 State maps beginning in 1874, 19 Plainfield flat maps, and 21 framed walls maps of Plainfield, including two copies of the oldest map of Plainfield dated 1832. This cartographic collection includes numerous atlases in the New Jersey Collection. Maps of and information about the the nine historic districts of Plainfield can be found here.

  

Photograph Collections
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The Plainfield Public Library's historic photograph collections include over 20,000 individual photographic prints, negatives, slides and glass plates by over a dozen local photographers from the 1870's to the present.

Further Information:
Historic Photograph Collections of the Plainfield Public Library

Plainfield Postcard Collection
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The Plainfield Postcard Collection contains 2,000 postcards with 1,000 unique images. The Chase collection and the Ricketts collection make up the core of the library's holdings, depicting Plainfield in the early 1900s.

Plainfield Police Logs
Complete list of Police Logs

The Library houses 340 ledgers used by the Plainfield Police Division between 1894 and 1976 to record their daily activities. Journals report items such as arrests, accidents, thefts, criminal dockets, tax ledgers, and lost and found animals. Surnames are indexed in many volumes.

StoryCorps Griot Initiative

The Local History collection includes oral history interviews as part of the StoryCorps Griot Initiative. This project will help to ensure that the voices, experiences, and life stories of African Americans will be preserved and presented with dignity.

The StoryCorps Griot Initiative is inspired by the role of the griot (pronounced gree-oh) in West African tradition. It is a role of honor, designating someone who maintains community tradition and memory through storytelling, music, and dance.