The Fairbanks Museum Archives Center is open to the public by appointment.

The Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium has served as a repository for local historical records since its opening in 1891. The holdings include the records of the museum itself as well as local historical material. As collections are processed, they will be linked to ARCCAT, an electronic database of holdings in Vermont repositories.

Collections Highlights

Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium records, 1862-present
The institutional records of the Museum document its founding, the development of its extensive collections, the work of its education program, its special events and exhibits, and the role individuals and groups have played in the Museum's history. They provide a window into the Museum's relationship to its community and its frequent role as a leader in regional environmental stewardship efforts. They also document the Northeast Kingdom's natural environment, through detailed records about plant and wildlife sightings and a related record group of weather observations. The Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium records are a rich resource for researchers interested in topics of natural sciences, history, environmental conservation, education, and museum studies.

The Northern New England Weather Center records, 1894-1997
These include the observations and recordings compiled at the Fairbanks Museum's Center. The records document meteorological conditions in St. Johnsbury and northern New England from 1894 to the present. While much of the information contained in the records can also be accessed through the National Climatic Data Center, some of it, most notably the wind data, is unique and only available through the Fairbanks Museum Archives. The records include observation forms and recorded charts of weather conditions.

Local history collections
In addition to its institutional records, the Fairbanks Museum Archives houses collected materials documenting the history of St. Johnsbury and the surrounding area. Municipal records, farm journals and account books, business records, courtship letters, Civil War diaries, and photographs of local landmarks are among the many holdings which document the evolution of the Northeast Kingdom between the 18th and 21st centuries. Examples of processed collections include:

• George Cary papers, 1898-1986 (bulk 1931-1935)
• Carlton Felch diaries, 1862-1918
• Earl Cross covered bridge photograph collection, ca. 1940
• Erastus Fairbanks dispatches, 1861
• George Felch papers, 1880-1937
• Arthur Graves home movies, 1946-1960
• William Herrick diaries, 1861-1871
• Local history photograph collection
• Horace Locklin papers, 1826-1945 (bulk 1918-1926)
• Passumpsic Valley Craft Guild records, 1953-1974
• Harriet Pope and Charles Walter Carpenter papers, 1895 -1902 (bulk 1895-1897)
• William Henry Preston papers, 1861 -1908 (bulk 1861-1864)
• William Henry Proctor papers, 1855-1908 (bulk 1862-1908)
• Stuart family journals, 1818-1876 (bulk 1862-1868)
• Town of St. Johnsbury records, 1790-1920 (bulk 1800-1895)
• Waterman papers, 1925-1942
• Woman's Relief Corps, Howard No. 24, Lunenburg records, 1886-1961

The archives contain many other collections of local historical material, including correspondence, bound volumes, ephemera, maps and newspapers.