Research Facility Addresses
If you are seeking information on an orphan train rider, you may try corresponding
with one or more of the following facilities.  In most cases you need to be a direct
descendant to receive information.  It is helpful if you can narrow your search to the
orphanage you think the rider came from.
New York City
Department of Records and Information Services
Municipal Archives
31 Chambers Street
New York, NY  10007
(212) 788-8580

Division of Vital Records
P.O. Box 3776
Church Street Station
New York, N.Y.  10007

New York State Department of Health
Bureau of Vital Records
Albany, NY 12230
http://www.health.state.ny.us

New York Children’s Aid Society
Attn: Archivist
150 East 45th St.
New York, NY  10017
212-949-4800
http://www.childrensaidsociety.org

New York Foundling Hospital
Attn: Archivist
590 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY  10011
http://www.nyfoundling.org
212-633-9300

New York Juvenile Asylum Records
The Children’s Village
Echo Hills
Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
www.childrensvillage.org
914-693-0600

Brooklyn Home for Children
c/o Forestdale Inc.
67-35 112th St.
Forest Hills, NY 11375

Brooklyn Nursery and Infants Hospital
c/o Salvation Army Social Services for Children
132 W. 14th St.
New York, NY 10011

New England Home for Little Wanderers
c/o The Home for Little Wanderers
271 Huntington Ave.
Boston, MA 02115


National Adoption Information Clearinghouse
http://naic.acf.hhs.gov/parents/prospective/funding/adopt_assistance/

Jim Gehrlich
Medical Center Archives
New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell
1300 York Ave #34
New York, NY 10021-4805
Phone: 212-746-6072; Fax 212-746-8279
http://www.med.cornell.edu/archives
  • Contact for records of the New York Infant Asylum (1871-1909), the Nursery and Child’s
    Hospital (1859-1905), or the New York Nursery and Child’s Hospital (1909-1934).  
  • Must have documentation that the person was an orphan train rider to receive additional
    information.
Genealogical Research Resources
www.rootsweb.com - provides links to search engines & databases, family
trees, message boards and others.  This is data submitted by individuals. Not
all information is necessarily correct.
www.ellisisland.org - search passenger records and ship manifests.  You must
register to search, but it is free.
www.archives.gov - National Archives search.
www.usgenweb.com - State Research. Click on the state you are researching
and then click on the specific county. Each county has there own home page
and the information it has depends on what information has been submitted
to them. Individual submitted information.
www.sos.mo.gov/archives - Missouri State Archives. You can search birth &
death records, death certificates, land patents, naturalization records and
soldier information.
State Contacts
Click here for a list on local state Orphan Train groups.