Research Online

Discover history at your fingertips! 

You can access hundreds of stories in our digital exhibits, browse thousands of photographs in our online catalog, or use databases for research.

Research Online

History Center Research Tools

Online Collections Catalog

Browse through over 10,000 photographs from our museum collection.

Telephone Directories, 1900-1968

Transcriptions of historic Lake Forest/Lake Bluff telephone books; very helpful for genealogy or house history

Timeline of Lake Forest History

Highlights chronological milestones in Lake Forest’s past. (Published in 2011 in honor of Lake Forest's sesquicentennial.)

City of Lake Forest Officials Database

Find all the Lake Forest alderman, city managers, treasurers, city marshals and mayors and their years of service

Lake Forest City Charter

Text from Lake Forest’s City Charter, approved in 1861, amended in 1869

1877 List of Lake County Taxpayers (selections from LF/LB area)

Includes name, occupation, and occasionally biographical information. Transcribed from The Past and Present of Lake County, Illinois,  Chicago: Wm. Le Baron & Co, 1877.

History Center collections spotlight

Lake Forest Lodge 1026, Petitions for Membership and Degrees

A database of genealogical information taken from petitions for membership and degrees for Lake Forest Masonic Lodge 1026. (For petitioners born in 1913 or later, visit to access the complete archive.)

Old Forester, 1944-1945

Society newsletter written by Lake Forest young people during World War II.


Online Local History Resources from Elsewhere

Newspapers

  • The Lake Forester - via the Lake Forest Library
  • The Chicago Tribune - via the Lake Forest Library
    • With your Lake Forest Library card, you can use ProQuest to search the Historical Chicago Tribune from 1849-1989 (library card # required for login).
  • Lake Forest College Stentor - via Lake Forest College Archives and Special Collections
    • Student newspaper; 1898-1921 available online
  • Lake Forest College newspaper, The Black Rap - via Lake Forest College Archives and Special Collections
    • Launched by Black students at Lake Forest College in the late 1960s and continued through the 1980s; recently relaunched in 2020
  • Lake County newspapers, 1890s-1930s - via Cook Memorial Public Library
    • Includes both full-text and/or index searches of the Lake County Independent, Lake County Independent and Waukegan Weekly Sun, Lake County Register, and Libertyville Independent
  • Highland Park newspaper database - via Highland Park Public Library
    • Digital copies of newspaper, 1874-1951. (Click newspaper icon in upper righthand corner for newspaper page images.)
  • Deerfield newspapers, 1945-1960via Deerfield Public Library
    • Browsable pdfs of The Deerfield Review
  • Wilmette newspaper database - via Wilmette Public Library
    • Includes both full text and/or index searches of Wilmette-area newspapers like Wilmette Life, Lake Shore News and The Local News, for various years.
  • Evanston History Center Historic Newspaper Collectionvia Evanston History Center
    • Digitized images from the newspaper microfilm collection at the Evanston History Center, 1872-1922
  • The Chicago Examiner - via Chicago Public Library
    • Digitized images of the newspaper held at the Harold Washington Library Center, 1908-1918

Maps and Aerials

Architecture and House History

Cemeteries

Records and Genealogy

Digitized Histories, Essays and Articles

Schools and Youth

Blogs and Websites

Online Collections and Archives

  • Lake Forest Library Archives - via Illinois Digital Archives
    • Images and articles related to Lake Forest Library, City Hall, Market Square, Edwin Hill Clark, and Villa Turicum
  • Lake Bluff Online Collections Database - via Lake Bluff History Museum
    • Digitized photos and archives housed at the Lake Bluff History Museum
  • Explore Chicago Collections
    • Online portal for searching photographs and archives housed at institutions throughout the Chicago region
  • Online Resources from the Chicago History Museum
    • Online catalog, digital images, online exhibits, Encyclopedia of Chicago, and more
  • Illinois Digital Archives
    • Online repository for the digital collections of the Illinois State Library as well as other libraries and cultural institutions in the State of Illinois
  • CARLI Digital Collections
    • Repository for digital content created by member libraries of the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois - includes images and special collections
  • Garden Club of America Collectionvia The Smithsonian Institution
    • Digitized slides and glass lantern slides showing Lake Forest/Lake Bluff gardens, largely c. 1930s. The Lake Forest Garden Club was a founding member of the Garden Club of America.