Overview

Mission: The Grundy Archive contributes to the understanding of our local heritage by preserving and making available materials pertaining to the history of Bristol, Pennsylvania and the surrounding communities, as well as the pursuit of local genealogical research to audiences of all ages and interests. In addition, the Archive preserves and maintains records belonging to the Grundy family (which have traditionally been overseen by the Grundy Museum) and the institutional records of the Grundy Foundation, as well as serves as custodian of the Bristol Borough Municipal Records.

BRISTOL HISTORY LIBRARY MATERIALS

The Library houses public access materials related to local Bristol history in the open stacks of the library available for use during library hours. They are largely comprised of duplicate materials from the archives made available for independent local history and genealogy research. These include primarily books, pamphlets, and directories. In addition to these items there is a microfilm collection which includes newspapers and Bristol Borough Council Minutes.

Please note that in the Bucks County library catalog these items are identified as “Local History Collection.”

BRISTOL HISTORY COLLECTION (ARCHIVES)

The Library also houses original, archival collections related to local Bristol history that are available by appointment only. To learn more about what we collect and why, please refer to our Grundy Archive Collection Management Policy.

Types of items we collect include:

• Photographs
• Deeds
• Maps & atlases
• Rare local history books
• Clippings & scrapbooks

Our archival collections are organized by finding aids. As defined by the Society of American Archivists, a finding aid “is a single document that places the materials in context by consolidating information about the collection, such as acquisition and processing; provenance, including administrative history or biographical note; scope of the collection, including size, subjects, media; organization and arrangement; and an inventory of the series and the folders.”

Our finding aids can be found here.

BRISTOL BOROUGH MUNICIPAL RECORDS COLLECTION

The Grundy Library holds a number of Bristol Borough municipal records, including Council Meeting minutes (1730-1998) on microfilm.