Research Your Burlington House

sepia-toned old photo of a residential street in the early 1900s.

You can find resources in BPL's local history collection to help you research the history of your Burlington property.

In Our Collection

  • Telephone directories: Burlington phone books list names, addresses, and telephone numbers. We have 1978-2006 phone books and the Bell Canada Telephone Historical Collection covering 1878 to 1979 on microfilm.
  • City Directories: Help researchers trace individuals, families, and businesses. They usually include an alphabetical listing of adult residents, with their occupations and addresses. We have Vernon’s Burlington Directories for the years 1959 to 2013.
  • Assessment records: Tax assessment records help determine a building’s construction date and identify the original owner and occupants. We have these records on microfilm from 1856 to 1953.
  • City Council Minutes: Former Council minutes are available on microfilm. They are useful to trace the development and changes to a specific property or residential area. We have these records on microfilm from 1852 to 2003.
  • Maps: BPL's historical maps and plans collection is from a variety of sources, predominantly produced and published by the City of Burlington's Planning Department, illustrating the village, town, and city.
  • Atlases: We have physical copies of Illustrated Historical Atlases for Halton and Wentworth County. You can also search Historical Canadian County Atlases online, a digital project hosted by McGill University's Rare Books and Special Collections Division with indexed county atlas information.
  • Fire Insurance Plans: Available on microfilm, we have the Fire Insurance Plan of Burlington for the years 1900, 1900 revised 1911, 1910, 1924 (downloadable digital copy), 1924 revised 1932, and 1971. View a digital copy of the Index to Fire Insurance Plan of Burlington 1932 (McMaster University Library)
  • Land Registry Records: Detail the chain of ownership of a property by means of plan and lot number. These records can be found at the Halton Land Registry Office in Milton. Land registration services for the general public are only available online. Visit ONLAND for more information.

Research Links

City of Burlington, Property Information Request

City of Burlington, Building Records Statistics and Reports

Heritage Burlington