Round Lake Beach Directory Collections
The confirmed local shelf is broader than printed city directories. Round Lake Area Public Library lists village newsletters, newspapers, anniversary volumes, maps, census profiles, and an original title-deed binder. FamilySearch supplies a national directory collection, while IRAD holds older Lake County record groups. The library does not publish a verified continuous Round Lake Beach city directory or reverse-directory run, so no publisher or missing year should be invented.
| Collection | Years or span | Where held | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round Lake Beach newsletters | June 1981 to summer 1991 | Round Lake Area Public Library | Reference consultation |
| Round Lake newsletters | September 1981 to August 1987 | Round Lake Area Public Library | Reference consultation |
| Local newspapers | 1942 onward, selected runs | Library and licensed databases | In library or account-based |
| Anniversary material | 1937-1962 binder; 50th volume | Library local history | Ask Reference staff |
| Maps and zoning | Selected 1960-1999 dates | Library local history | Ask Reference staff |
| United States directories | About 1749-1990 collection | FamilySearch online/catalog | Account or image rules vary |
| IRAD Lake County groups | 1840s-1970s by series | Illinois Archives at NIU | Catalog and mail inquiry |
Start with the narrow local source that fits the year. Use the national collection as a discovery route, then confirm the locality, publisher, year, page, and image.
Round Lake Beach Library Shelf
The Round Lake Area Public Library Local History and Archives page names the materials actually held. Adult Services Reference is the gateway. Call 847-546-7060 and choose prompt 4 before assuming an item is on an open shelf. The library is at 906 Hart Road in Round Lake.
Map holdings include Chamber of Commerce maps from 1970 through 1998, a 1978 district map, a 1980 Round Lake flood map, and selected zoning maps from 1987 through 1999. These can explain the village or township label printed beside an old address. The original Round Lake title-deed binder can connect a legal name or subdivision to local history.
The anniversary binders are strong people sources. The two 25th-anniversary binders cover 1937 through 1962, while the 50th-anniversary souvenir book can identify civic participants and local milestones. They are not complete resident rolls, but they can give a dated lead that a deed or newspaper later confirms.
Round Lake Beach Historical Society
The Lake County Historical Society preserves county artifacts, historic documents, oral histories, newsletters, and sites that extend the city directory trail beyond the village shelf.
The society provides county context for names and places, but its related-sites page says the Lenore Clark Genealogy Library is temporarily closed until a new facility is found. Confirm current access before a visit.
Names in Round Lake Beach News
The library lists Lakes Gazette from 1942, Round Lake Bulletin from 1942 through 1948, Round Lake News from 1988, News-Sun material from 1990 and 1991, and selected Lake County Progress or Journal material from 2005 and 2009. Licensed News-Sun and Lake County Journal databases can broaden the search. Community guides from 2013 through 2019 add civic and organization names.
Search the full name, surname variant, street number, and address. Save the publication, date, page, and exact wording. Notices and obituaries may explain a move, family tie, public event, or death, but an article is a lead rather than proof of present residence. Pair it with the source best suited to the claim.
The library's Round Lake Beach newsletters from 1981 through summer 1991 are especially useful for board names, street projects, annexation notes, and ordinance references. Search the same date in the Village ordinance archive when a newsletter points to official action.
Read a Round Lake Beach Entry
A historical entry is a snapshot for one publication year. Directory conventions vary, so photograph or save the title page and abbreviation key along with the entry. A broad genealogy reference model shows the fields below, but no identifiable Round Lake Beach resident entry was verified during research.
| Name | Surname, given name, initials, or a householder listing |
|---|---|
| Relationship | A spouse or widow notation may appear |
| Address | House number and street as printed that year |
| Occupation | A trade or role may be abbreviated |
| Occupancy mark | Some publishers distinguish an owner, renter, or boarder |
| Source line | Publisher, year, page, image, or film identifier |
- Criss-cross directory
- A section arranged by street and house number, useful when the address is known first.
- Householder index
- An alphabetical or address-linked list centered on the named head or listed subscriber.
- Abbreviation key
- The publisher's legend for shortened occupations, relationships, and occupancy marks.
Do not expand an abbreviation from memory. Read the key for that volume. The same letter can mean something else in another publisher's city directory.
Search Round Lake Beach Directory Fields
The FamilySearch United States City and Business Directories collection spans about 1749 to 1990 at the broad collection level. It is not a Round Lake Beach-only database, and a local volume was not confirmed in the inspected result. Its field set still provides a useful way to test names and addresses.
| Field | Type | Useful input |
|---|---|---|
| First name / surname | Text | Name and spelling variants |
| Event type | Selection | Residence or another indexed event |
| Birthplace / birth years | Text and range | Disambiguation clues |
| Family member | Selection/text | Relationship and second name |
| Keyword | Text | Street number, address, or entry term |
| Area / directory type | Selection | Locality and source category |
| File or film group | Text | Narrow a known catalog item |
The separate FamilySearch catalog can search place, keyword, title, author, subject, surname, and availability. Test Waukegan, Lake County, Round Lake, and Round Lake Beach as distinct place strings, then inspect the title-level record.
Trace Round Lake Beach Households
A careful family-history search follows the same household through several types of evidence. Keep a log with the name exactly as printed, year, street, city label, page, and repository.
- Search the known surname and street number in FamilySearch and the library's newspaper tools.
- Record each directory year, publisher, page, and address variant. A missing year is not proof of a move.
- Pair the address with the county assessor situs, legal description, and PIN.
- Search the Recorder by grantee and grantor, then follow the seller backward through recorded deeds.
- Use obituary notices, probate heir accounts, marriage or death indexes, and released census schedules to test relationships.
- Ask library staff about uncatalogued telephone books, reverse directories, community guides, and anniversary files.
Census years provide household snapshots between directories, subject to the federal 72-year release rule. The 1890 schedules were destroyed in a 1921 fire, so city directories, newspapers, deeds, and local files may help bridge that national gap. Record the enumeration place as printed because early geography may predate the village label.
Round Lake Beach Record Timeline
Round Lake Beach's historical shelf is easiest to understand as several overlapping eras, not one publication run.
| 1839 | Lake County was organized, with Waukegan as county seat. |
|---|---|
| 1937 | Village sources agree on the incorporation year but preserve different date fields. |
| 1942 | The earliest newspaper issue named in the library inventory begins the confirmed local news shelf. |
| 1980 | The Recorder's modern online index starts; older land books use office access. |
| 1981-1991 | The confirmed Round Lake Beach village-newsletter run covers civic names and events. |
| 1987 | The library holds a special census item dated October 9. |
The Illinois Secretary of State index shows February 5 and February 10, 1937 in separate fields, while an Illinois House Resolution states January 19. Preserve the cited date and source instead of selecting one unsupported definitive incorporation day. That small discrepancy is a useful lesson in reading indexes as fields, not final narratives.
IRAD Beyond Round Lake Beach Directories
The Illinois Regional Archives Depository holds Lake County series at Northern Illinois University. Confirmed groups include circuit case files from 1840 through 1898, collector books from 1851 through 1900, birth material from 1866 onward in named series, probate heir accounts from 1894 through 1913, and other county or municipal records.
Search the IRAD catalog by county, title, and depository. A mail request should include the person's name, year range, Lake County, and record title. This route is most useful when a Round Lake Beach city directory lead points to an event outside the local shelf or before the village existed.
IRAD is a fallback, not a substitute for checking the library. The local shelf supplies street and community context, while the archive supplies record groups made by county offices.
Round Lake Beach Village Archives
The Village archives and ordinances connect newsletter names and dates to municipal minutes, resolutions, and code material.
When a local publication names a board member, street action, or annexation, the official archive can supply the governing record rather than leaving the claim at the newsletter level.
Limits of Round Lake Beach Directories
A city directory entry is not a certified record, deed, or complete household list. People could be omitted, decline a listing, move between canvass and publication, or appear under another city label. Occupancy marks vary by publisher and cannot establish title without the recorded land chain.
No official local inventory confirmed a continuous Round Lake Beach directory, reverse-directory, telephone-book, obituary-index, school-yearbook, church-directory, or Sanborn-map run. That gap should guide the next question to Reference staff. It must not be filled with assumed publisher names or dates.
Best practice. Treat every city directory hit as a dated lead, then verify its name, address, and relationship in an independent record.