The dataset presented here, a historical coregonine spawning database, or CORHIST for short, is the result of several years of coordinated research in archives, libraries, and field stations, to track down evidence of spawning locations for the Coregoninae sub-family of ciscoes and whitefishes in the Great Lakes of North America and their tributaries. Our objective was to accurately identify location information to coordinates and add all associated data and metadata to a database built specifically for these types of records (a database capable of storing historical, geospatial, and biological data). Data for a total of 11 accepted species of coregonines are included in this dataset. Spawning or nursery habitat designations were assigned based on a wide-range of evidence from original sources, including descriptions of physiology, ontogeny, and behaviors, interviews, first-hand and Indigenous Ecological Knowledge, and by our own examination of museum specimens. Georeferencing was completed using evidence from original records, including navigational information such as dead reckonings, landmarks like islands, lighthouses, reefs, and river mouths, and by using depth and substrate descriptions. Occasionally, supplemental sources including various historical maps and/or published bathymetry and substrate layers were used to assist in georeferencing points. Data points were summarized and quality-checked using ArcMap 10.8 and ArcGIS Pro (datum: WGS84). Reference tables are also included with this dataset.