San Francisco County, California Genealogy

United States California  San Francisco County

Guide to San Francisco County, California ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.



County Court House
San Francisco County Courthouse 1 Dr Carlton B Goodlett Place San Francisco, CA 94102 Phone 415.554.4950

Superior Court Clerk has divorce, probate and court records Counter Recorder has marriage records Department of Public Health has birth records

Parent County
18 February 1850: San Francisco County was created as an original county. County seat: San Francisco

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating California county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation California County Boundary Maps" (1850-1925) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Records Loss
1906: Courthouse burned and many records were damaged in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. For a list of record loss in California counties see: California Counties with Burned Courthouses

For further information on researching in burned counties, see the following:


 * Burned Counties Research


 * Blogs Ancestry.com

Neighboring Counties

 * Alameda


 * Marin


 * San Mateo

Cemeteries
San Francisco California Area Funeral Home Records: A free internet index and images to the California, San Francisco Funeral Home Records can be viewed on the FamilySearch Historical Record Collections website. For a description of the collection see San Francisco California Area Funeral Home Records.

A wiki article describing this collection is found at: 

San Francisco California Area Funeral Home Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)

San Francisco Colma Cemetery Index - A free, searchable index of more than 305,000 burial records (1887-2001) for the Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma published by SFgenealogy.com.

Census
1850 (1851) for the county is missing.

LDS Ward and Branch Records

 * Balboa


 * Mission


 * San Francisco


 * Sunset (San Francisco)

Lutheran

 * Records of Trinity, Bethlehem, and Ascension Lutheran Church, San Francisco, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Directories
Directories (free at the Internet Archive) - 1878, 1920

Fold3.com ($) has San Francisco City Directories 1861-1923 (4 yrs. missing) available online. This database is sometimes free at libraries.

Disasters
Earthquake

Emigration and Immigration

 * Angel Island Immigration Station – This site gives the history of the landmark near San Francisco known as the “Ellis Island of the West”. When Angel Island was opened in 1910, it was expected to handle European immigrants headed for California via the Panama Canal. Instead, the facility handled about 250,000 immigrants from Asia, 70 percent of whom were Chinese. While records aren’t searchable here, you will get a good insight into what those who were detained at Angel Island went through to enter the United States. Site provides links to sources that are available for researching ancestors.

A wiki article describing this collection is found at:

California, San Francisco Passenger Lists (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Genealogy
A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:

California Genealogical Colleactions at the California Genealogical Society (FamilySearch HIstorical Records)

Land and Property
The Family History Library has copies of original pre-statehood records for San Francisco, 1838 to 1851, on 21 films. These include Spanish grants and early Alcalde deeds. The original records are at the San Francisco County Courthouse. After the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, a law was passed to establish the ownership of land. A claimant filed the proper papers with the superior court, which, if approved, gave him title to the land. These claims are called the McInerney actions. The original records are at the San Francisco County Courthouse. The Family History Library has copies of these claims for the years 1906 to 1984 on 880 microfilm rolls. They are indexed by the name of the plaintiff (claimant).

Maps

 * Maps of California (1850-1925)

For historical maps,search the following free sites:


 * Maps-Historical-State of California, the California government's site. Links to American Memory (Library of Congress), California Missions, and the State Library


 * Historical Maps of California


 * California Maps - HSU Library, also lists and links to gazetteers


 * David Rumsey Collection for San Francisco, California


 * California Perry-Castaneda Map Collection


 * USGS Topographic Maps of California topographical maps of California mountains, rivers, etc.,

For some Custom Google Maps of San Francisco Mile Houses and Catholic Parishes in the city:


 * Map showing locations of the mile houses of San Francisco
 * Map showing locations of Catholic parish churches of San Francisco (1893)
 * Map showing locations and extent of baptism, marriage and death records of Catholic parish churches of San Francisco (present-day)

Military History and Records
Civil War

Despite the destruction of the 1890 Federal Census, a few 1890 Census Veterans Schedules for Alcatraz in San Francisco County survived. They are available on roll 118 of "Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census (1890) Enumerating Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War" (NARA M123). The schedules list veterans and their widows who served as Union soldiers in the Civil War. For more information on the 1890 Veterans Schedules see Union Census Records.


 * - 1st Battalion, California Native Cavalry (Union), Company A
 * - 1st Battalion, California Native Cavalry (Union), Company B
 * - 1st Regiment, California Cavalry (Union), Company A
 * - 1st Regiment, California Cavalry (Union), 1st Company E
 * - 1st Regiment, California Cavalry (Union), New Company E
 * - 1st Regiment, California Cavalry (Union), Company F
 * - 1st Regiment, California Infantry (Union), Company B
 * - 1st Regiment, California Infantry (Union), Company H
 * - 1st Regiment, California Infantry (Union), Company K
 * - 2nd Regiment, California Infantry (Union), Company E
 * - 7th Regiment, California Infantry (Union), Company A
 * - 7th Regiment, California Infantry (Union), Company E
 * - 7th Regiment, California Infantry (Union), Company F
 * - 7th Regiment, California Infantry (Union), Company K
 * - 8th Regiment, California Infantry (Union), Company D
 * - 8th Regiment, California Infantry (Union), Company E
 * - 8th Regiment, California Infantry (Union), Company F

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Vital Records
See also How to order California Vital Records

Birth
The San Francisco Department of Public Health has birth records since April 1906. You can obtain an informational copy for a fee by mailing the application (Birth Application, Death Application) with your payment and a self-addressed stamped envelope. As with other California counties, you only need to get the form notarized if you want a certified copy. Informational copies do not need a notary. Mail the application to: San Francisco Public Health Department Office of Vital Records 101 Grove St., Room 105 San Francisco, CA 94102

Death
The San Francisco Department of Public Health has death records since April 1906. You can obtain an informational copy for a fee by mailing the application (Birth Application, Death Application) with your payment and a self-addressed stamped envelope. As with other California counties, you only need to get the form notarized if you want a certified copy. Informational copies do not need a notary. Mail the application to: San Francisco Public Health Department Office of Vital Records 101 Grove St., Room 105 San Francisco, CA 94102

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/show#uri=http://hr-search-api:8080/searchapi/search/collection/1385518 San Francisco Funeral Home Records]

Genealogy Societies, Archives and Libraries

 * List of California Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical & Genealogical Societies

Web Sites

 * San Francisco County, CA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * California Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * California Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * San Francisco Genealogy (sfgenealogy)
 * Golden Nugget Library
 * San Francisco County CAGenWeb
 * Linkpendium
 * USGenWeb Archives
 * USGenWeb Archives backup site
 * San Francisco County Genealogy (California Genealogy)

Wiki articles describing online collections are found at: 


 * California, Genealogical Collections at the California Genealogical Society (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * San Francisco County, CA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Familytree101)
 * California, San Francisco County Records(FamilySearch Historical Records)