Local History
Explore Oakville’s rich local history through our online resources and our Oakville Collection housed at the Oakville Room at our Central Branch.
Identification or a OPL library card may be required to access some reference items.
Catalogue Resources
Municipal Directories
A listing of historical municipal directories for Oakville and surrounding communities.
Oakville High School Yearbooks
Search our list of yearbooks from schools in Oakville. Oakville Public Library gratefully accepts donations of local school yearbooks.
County Atlases
A listing of historical county atlases in Ontario.
Oakville and the Sixteen: History of an Ontario Port
A quintessential book by Hazel C. Mathews that was published 1971 on the history of Oakville as a port town.
Local history reading list
Items in our collection related to the history of Oakville.
Ontario Land Records
Microfilm of local land registry books and related resources.
Online Resources
Oakville Images
A database of images from various historical societies and organizations.
Oakville Newspaper Database
A database of indexed and digitized newspapers from Oakville.
Halton’s Historical Records
Historical records from Halton including census and cemetery records, business directories and more.
Oakville at War
Digital extension of the 1999 exhibition, Shadows of War: Not So Long Ago in the 20th Century, by the Oakville Museum at Erchless Estate.
Heritage Partners
Bronte Historical Society
A charitable organization dedicated to preserving Bronte’s heritage and celebrating its past.
Oakville Historical Society
An organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the historical heritage of the Town of Oakville.
Trafalgar Township Historical Society
An organization dedicated to documenting, celebrating and preserving the agricultural heritage of North Oakville.
Oakville Museum at Erchess Estate
The museum holds a diverse collection of objects reflecting the history of Oakville from its establishment to the present day.
Ask Our Local Collections Librarian
Email our Local Collections Librarian for assistance with your local or family history questions. If you need more in-depth assistance, you can book an appointment to explore the Oakville Room detailing any materials or technologies required to assist in your research.
Microfilm and Microfiche
Our ScanPro microform machine is available for use in the Oakville Room at Central Branch on a first come first served basis during regular library hours. Printouts are available at a cost of $0.25 cents a page or you may save images to a USB key. Please see Central Branch staff at the customer service desk on the third floor for assistance.
Microfilm and microfiche from select libraries and archives may be requested for use in the Oakville Room.
Reserve the Oakville Room computer for ScanPro Microform & FamilySearch Affiliate Library Access.
Interlibrary Loan Service
Do you need a book or article for your research that is not available at OPL? Try our Interlibrary Loan Service, learn more here.
