Middletown Thrall Library: Digital History Initiative

About These Collections

Middletown Thrall Library makes local history material accessible online through our Digital History Initiative, an ongoing endeavor to provide local history information to local and global communities of Internet users who have an interest in our area.

Original copies of Digital History documents listed below are maintained in the Local History Room at the library.

The first digitized text in this initiative was Peter A. Laskaris' Middletown, A Photographic History. Mr. Laskaris granted Middletown Thrall Library the right to reproduce this rare work so that any person with Internet access could explore the rich history of Middletown, New York.

If you do not have Internet access, you may access this text in print at the library or view it using our public Internet terminals or Local History/Genealogy research workstation.

For more information, please call the Local History Department at 341-5483.

You can also click here to ask a librarian a question and receive replies by e-mail.

Digital History Texts

Historic Post Cards

These historic post cards represent architectural structures central to Middletown's rich heritage and illustrate, without words, the evolution of a small town from a quaint development to cultural epicenter. The original souvenir post cards are viewable in the library's Local History department.
Images of Local History

These images, digitized from the Historical Society of Middletown and the Wallkill Precinct, Inc. photographic collections, highlight various aspects of Middletown's rich past and other key areas in and around the City of Middletown. This digital exhibit contains a number of photographs of schools, buildings, businesses, places of worship, streets, trains, train stations, celebrations, portraits, class pictures, and modes of transportation.
The Middletown Directory: 1857 - 1858

"This volume is published with a view of supplying a work of ready reference in all matters of general interest relating to the village of Middletown, as well as to afford the business portion of its citizens a medium for advertising their respective occupations and wares." (From the "Introduction") This work also contains a number illustrations and historical references specific to the Middletown, NY community at the time.
"Middletown Firsts"

A chronological history to the many "first things," people and places that came to be in Middletown.

Middletown: A Retrospect of the Years

An illustrated introduction to the history of Middletown, New York.
Middletown Thrall Library, 1901-1996: A Historical Study of a Small City Public Library

This study offers rare insight into one of Middletown's most important social, cultural and educational institutions: the library. This comprehensive work covers nearly a century of the library's evolution, from its beginnings to the new Thrall Library on Depot Street.
Orange County Agricultural Society 70th Annual Exhibition

An Orange County Fair Premium Book was issued each year to list rules and regulations for the exhibitions, including livestock, food, flowers, sewing, etc. It also included advertisements for local businesses. We have included an example of an Orange County Fair Premium Book from 1910.
Local History Image Database

Use our image search engine to locate historical photographs in and around Middletown, New York.