Research Services

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Following are the fees for onsite visits. Fees for mailed-in research requests can be found below.

• Admission:
  • NON-MEMBERS - $10.00 per day
  • MEMBERS - Free (Research Membership provides access to library holdings during open hours for one year without paying admission.) Click on Membership above to become a member today.
• Copies (per page):
  • NON-MEMBERS - Black/Color: 8.5 x 11 - .75/10.00; 8.5 x 14 - 1.00/15.00; 11x17 - 2.00/20.00
  • MEMBERS - Black/Color: 8.5 x 11 - .50/5.00; 8.5 x 14 - .75/10.00; 11x17 - 1.75/15.00

Let our volunteers research for you! For an advance fee of $50 for non-members or $40 for members, our volunteers will research the materials in our holdings. This does not include deeds or related documents unless you can provide exact book and page numbers.

We have a high level of success with most requests, however we cannot guarantee results. Our researchers are volunteers and cannot promise an instant reply, but we try to have an answer within six months. All requests are handled in the order that they are received.

The initial fee of $50 (non-members) or $40 (members) must be received with the request. The fee includes 10 copies with additional fees charged for each page over 10. All research requires about the same amount of time regardless of the results, therefore the Center will not refund requests if no results are found. All fees are non-refundable. A full schedule of fees may be found by downloading the Research Request Form.

To submit a research request, download and print the Research Request Form under Downloads at the bottom of this page, fill it in and mail it with your payment to the Bradford County Historical Society, 109 Pine Street, Towanda, PA 18848. The form is in PDF format. The form must be signed.

If you wish to pay for your request by credit card, please call the research clerk at 570-265-2240.

Birth/Marriage/Death Notices and Deeds Only ($10.00 each): If you can give us both the month and the year, we can check our newspaper microfilm archives for notices of births, marriages and deaths. Note that births, in general, were not announced in the newspapers until the 1890's and very rarely was the child's name given, being listed only as a boy or girl. For copies of deeds, we will need the book and page number where it was recorded.

Marriage records were first required by law in 1885. Before that, there were only a few on record. Births and deaths were not required by law in Pennsylvania until 1905. After that date the records are at New Castle, PA. Prior to that, there are only a few scattered records at the Court House. There were no records lost when the Court House burned in 1847.

If you wish to pay for your request by credit card, please call the research clerk at 570-265-2240.

Reproductions of photographs in our collection can be obtained by submitting the proper form/s and payment. The Bradford County Historical Society does not sell duplications, but rather performs the service of reproduction for which a fee is charged.

Reproductions are for research use only and may not be used for publication, exhibition, or any other public purpose without an approved Permission to Use and/or Loan Agreement.

BCHS reserves the right to deny copy order requests; to limit the number of copies; to restrict the use or reproduction of collection materials including rare, valuable or fragile items; and to ensure that material is reproduced with integrity.

All orders must include advance payment by cash, check, money order, or credit card.

Professional prints as well as digital scans are available.

There are many more photographs in our collection than those that are listed on this site. Contact the Research Library for more information.

Forms can be found under Downloads below.

Click on Student Resources under Research in the menu above.

Attention Teachers: You will also find useful tools on this page for your local history class.

Becoming a volunteer at the Bradford County Historical Society can be a fulfilling experience, while at the same time you are helping with the regular operations of the Society.

Library volunteers often learn how to use the research library so that they can help others with their research. This may include assisting visitors in person or answering research requests received by mail. You may also assist with indexing and organizing our collection so that others can find the material they need in an efficient manner.

If you are interested in helping on a weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly basis download our Volunteer Application Form under Downloads below, fill it out and mail it in. Thank you for your interest in helping to preserve Bradford County history.