Houston & Texas History: HPL Guide

Finding aids for HHRC's archival collections. Finding aids are descriptive documents listing the contents of the collections. Please note: most of the actual materials are available to view on-site only and are not digitized. To view items that have been digitized, please visit the Houston History Digital Archives.

Descriptions about architectural drawings, primarily of structures in the Houston area, within the HHRC collections. Please note: most of the actual materials are available to view on-site only and are not digitized. To view items that have been digitized, please visit the Houston History Digital Archives.

Descriptions about photographs within the HHRC collections. Please note: most of the actual materials are available to view on-site only and are not digitized. To view items that have been digitized, please visit the Houston History Digital Archives.

Coming soon!

Access the largest online historic newspaper archive, containing millions of searchable newspaper pages from Texas and the Southeast United States, dating as far back as the 1700s. Includes digital images of issues of the Houston Post (1903-1924), the Daily Court Review (1925-1977), and many other Texas and out-of-state small-market newspapers. States included are Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida.

Texas State Library and Archives Commission web site with links to pages containing historical and current statistics, and other useful information about the State of Texas. ​

Texas state records that have been digitized by Ancestry are available to Texas residents for free. Users are required to create a free Ancestry.com Texas account. Click the link for a list of what is available and instructions on how to create an account 

Includes Houston Daily Post (12/1/1893--2/28/1903) and Jewish Herald (Houston) (9/24/1908--12/29/1910).

Includes Complete guide to Houston Texas (1895), Houston "where seventeen railroads meet the sea (1913), Illustrated city book of Houston for 1910, 1914, and 1917, and Progressive Houston (1909-1913).

Digital encyclopedia containing more than 1,250 entries. This joint project of the Houston History Alliance and the Texas State Historical Association is an authoritative source on Houston history.

Digital state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association. Contains overview, general, and biographical entries focused on the entire history of Texas from the indigenous Native Americans and the Prehistoric Era to the state’s diverse population and the Modern Age.

Founded in 2002, the Harris County Archives houses historical records from over 70 county offices. The web site has finding aids for their archival collections and a number of digitized maps.

Digital collections created primarily by the Harris County Archives. The Housing, neighborhoods, and transportation collection includes many subdivision plats for Houston neighborhoods.

Statistical information and reports supplied by the Greater Houston Partnership.

Includes Annual message of the mayor of the City of Houston for 1902-1913, City book of Houston for 1908-1909, 1925, and 1928, Municipal Book, City of Houston for 1922 and 1928, Men of Affairs in Houston and environs (Houston Press Club, 1913), and B.H. Carroll’s Standard History of Houston, Texas (1912)

Created and maintained by the University of North Texas. The Portal is a gateway to rare, historical, and primary source materials from or about Texas. Archival collections and libraries across the state have contributed to this digital archive. Newspapers included are: Houston Informer (1919-1924), Houston Daily Post (1893-1918), Houston Post (1923-1924), Houston Post-Dispatch (1924-1925), and all known Republic of Texas era newspapers.

Searchable database of finding aids for archival materials in Texas, including some held by the Houston Metropolitan Research Center.

TAMI provides online access to a selection of digitized home movies, amateur films, advertisements, local television, and industrial and corporate productions, as well as Hollywood and internationally produced moving images of Texas.