Holdings

The Archives include the following materials:

Architectural Drawings

Architectural plans for commercial buildings within the Archives predominately date from the 1960s. Holdings related to residential properties are more limited.

City Directories

Used for centuries, City directories provide alphabetical listings of residents and businesses within the city.  Unlike telephone books, they typically also include property listings arranged by street address, business directories (often including advertisements), government listings, abbreviations and other miscellaneous information of interest.

City directories are valuable sources for a wide range of historical research. They commonly record the names of heads of households, occupations, spouses, boarders, businesses, organizations, institutions and advertisements and are good resources for genealogical research. 

The ARM Division holds City directories on a sporadic basis from 1864 to 1936. No directories were published during the 1940s and 1950s; however, annual editions were published from 1960-2000.  Due to privacy legislation, publications of City directories ceased in 2000.

Some directories are available below. If what you are looking for is not available, please contact us. 

• 1877 The Atlantic Telegraph NFLD Directory
• 1885-86 Directory for the towns of St. John's, Harbor Grace, and Carbonear
• 1913 St. John's Newfoundland Directory including Harbor Grace, Carbonear and Bell Island
• 1915 McAlpine's St. John's City Directory
• 1922 St. John's Telephone Directory  
• 1928 Newfoundland Directory
• 1932 St. John's Classified Business and City Directory
• 1936 Lloyd's Newfoundland Directory
• 1951 St. John's Telephone Directory
• 1958 Eastern Newfoundland Telephone Directory
• 1960-61 Polk's St. John's City Directory
• 1966 Henderson's St. John's City Directory
• 1968 Henderson's St. John's City Directory
• 1969 Henderson's St. John's City Directory
• 1970 Henderson's St. John's City Directory
• 1971 Henderson's St. John's City Directory
• 1972 Polk's St. John's City Directory
• 1973 Polk's St. John's City Directory

Community Records 

Materials relating to St. John's persons, businesses, community groups and general subjects associated with the history of St. John's.

Images

The Archives hold an extensive collection of photographic materials dating from the 1860s, as well as a more limited collection of historic sketches dating from the 1830s.  

Insurance Plans

Insurance Plans are detailed maps created to assist insurance companies in assessing the risk of potential fire damage and determining insurance rates for individual properties.

The earliest Insurance Plans in the Archives were prepared by Charles R. Goad and Company.

These plans:

• Document the evolution of urban development, design and city planning.
• Provide valuable information on the infrastructure of the mercantile district destroyed by the Great Fire of 1892.
• Detail property structures throughout the city.
• Serve as an important resource for engineers, researchers, students, authors, and the public.

Please note some of the volumes include revisions. 

Insurance Plans use a colour-coded legend to identify features such as building type, construction materials, dwelling classification, and fire hydrant locations.

More recent Insurance Plans are subject to copyright restrictions and are for research and education purposes only. 

Maps

The Archives has a general map collection, dating from the 1830s.

Municipal Records

Administrative and operational records of the City of St. John’s, including records of former municipalities that later amalgamated with the City. Most of these records date from 1892, however some materials from prior to the Great Fire of 1892 has survived.