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United States Pennsylvania  Archives and Libraries

These archives, libraries, societies, and museums preserve sources, maintain indexes, and provide services to help genealogists document their ancestors who lived in Pennsylvania.

National
National Archives at Philadelphia 900 Market Street (entrance on Chesnut Street) Philadelphia, PA 19107-4292 Phone: (215) 606-0100 Fax: (215) 606-0116 Internet: National Archives at Philadelphia


 * Specializes in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. All U.S. federal censuses 1790-1940, and indexes. Also have passenger arrivals in Philadelphia and Baltimore, pension and bounty land warrant applications, naturalizations, early federal history, diplomacy, military history, Chinese-Americans, World War II homefront, National Park Service, merchant marine, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, federal tax evasion and smuggling cases.

Philadelphia Federal Records Center (aka National Archives at Northeast Philadelphia) 14700 Townsend Road Philadelphia, PA 19154-1025 Phone: (215) 305-2000 Fax: (215) 305-2038 Internet: Philadelphia Federal Records Center

State
Pennsylvania State Archives Mail:350 North Street Harrisburg, PA 17108-1026 Phone: (717) 783-3281 E-mail: ra-statearchives@state.pa.us Website: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

Arias (Archives Records Information Access System) is designed to facilitate citizen with online access to archival records created by all branches and levels of Pennsylvania State Government. The original papers were originally microfilmed and later digitized. As of September 2010 there are about 1.5 million records online with more to be added in the future,

Hours: Wednesday-Friday, 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Saturday ( microfilm use only ), 9:00 a.m.-12:00 noon, 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. Closed on Mondays, Tuesdays and State Holidays.

The Family History Library has these important guides to collections at the State Archives:


 * Suran, Frank M. Guide to the Record Groups in the Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1980.
 * Baumann, Roland M., and Diane S. Wallace. Guide to the Microfilm Collections in the Pennsylvania State Archives. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1980.
 * Dructor, Robert M. A Guide to Genealogical Sources at the Pennsylvania State Archives. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1980. (Family History Library book .)
 * Fortna, Nancy L. P., and Frank M. Suran. Guide to County and Municipal Records on Microfilm in the Pennsylvania State Archives. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1982. (Family History Library book
 * Whipkey, Harry E. Guide to the Manuscript Groups in the Pennsylvania State Archives. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1976.
 * Guide to the Microfilm of the Records of Pennsylvania's Revolutionary Governments, 1775-1790: (record group 27) in the Pennsylvania State Archives. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1979.

For an index to this guide, see:


 * Baumann, Roland M. and Diane Smith Wallace. Index to the Guide to the Microfilm of the Records of Pennsylvania's Revolutionary Governments, 1775-1790, in the Pennsylvania State Archives. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1980. (Family History Library book

State Library of Pennsylvania 333 Market Street Harrisburg, PA 17126-1745 Phone: (717) 787-4440 Fax: (717) 783-8445 State Library of Pennsylvania

A helpful source is A Guide to the Genealogy/Local History Section of the State Library of Pennsylvania, 3rd rev. ed. (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: The Division, 1987; . See also Janice B. Newman, Genealogical Research at the State Library of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 35 (1988): 199-212.

Historical Society of Pennsylvania Library

Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania

Regional
Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center

Library Company of Philadelphia

Philadelphia Historical Commission

Free Library of Philadelphia

Temple University Urban Archives Center

City Archives of Philadelphia Dept. of Records 401 N. Broad Street, Suite 942 Philadelphia, PA 19108-1099 Phone: (215) 686-1580 Fax: (215) 686-2283 City Archives of Philadelphia

A helpful guide is John C. Daly, Descriptive Inventory of the Archives of the City and County of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: City of Philadelphia, Department of Records, 1970; Supplement, 1980; ;

Carnegies Library of Pittsburgh 4400 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213-4080 Phone: (412) 622-3100 Fax: (412) 621-1267 Internet site: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

Bishop Library

Handley Regional Library

Citizens Library

Erie County Library

Swarthmore College Friends Historical Library 500 College Avenue Swarthmore, PA 19081 Phone: (610) 328-8496 Fax: (610) 690-5728 Email: friends@swarthmore.edu Internet: Friends Historical Library


 * Documents the history of the Society of Friends (Quakers) from the 17th century to the present.


 * American Swedish Historical Museum, Philadelphia, Swedish heritage in the Delaware Valley.
 * Lutheran Archives Center at Philadelphia ELCA archives for Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Upstate New York (excluding New York City) and New England. Includes clergy and synod papers, and some parish registers (baptisms, marriages, funerals, confirmations) (some in German).
 * Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, national archives of the PC(USA).


 * Franklin and Marshall College Library, Lancaster, "Hessian" (German) soldiers in the American Revolution, history, government, Pennsylvania-German culture, U.S. Civil War.
 * Evangelical and Reformed Historical Society (ERHS), Lancaster,
 * Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society,


 * Haverford Libraries
 * Swarthmore College Friends Hisorical Library


 * Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Philadelphia, Melrose Park, Jewish genealogy research manuals, society newsletters, regional cemeteries, and resource guide for south PA, NJ, and DE.

Early colonial immigrants in nine southeast Pennsylvania counties:


 * Adams County Historical Society Library
 * Bucks County Historical Society Library
 * Historical Society of Berks County Library
 * Chester County Historical Society Library
 * Delaware County Historical Society Library
 * Lancaster County Historical Society Library
 * Lebanon County Historical Society Library
 * Historical Society of Montgomery County Library
 * Historical Society of York County Library

Family History Centers. Some of the collections described above are at least partially available on microfilms at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, and through thousands of its branch Family History Centers. For further information see Introduction to LDS Family History Centers. To locate a center near you, see Find a Family History Center.

Museums
A is available on Wikipedia.

Outside Pennsylvania
Library of Congress

New York Public Library U.S. History, Local History &amp; Genealogy Division Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, Room 315S New York, NY 10018-2788 Tel: 212-930-0829 E-mail: Ask a librarian Internet: http://www.nypl.org/


 * This is one of the largest research libraries in the world including excellent genealogical resources for Pennsylvania. The library has city and telephone directories, vital records indexes, local histories, genealogies, federal and state censuses, passenger lists, genealogical collections (including DAR transcripts), and church records. For maps, write to the Map Division at the same address. Guides and catalogs to this important library include:
 * New York Public Library: Research Libraries, Dictionary Catalog of the Local History and Genealogy Division, 18 Volumes and four suppelments. (Boston, Massachusetts: G.K. Hall, 1974). ..
 * Sam P. Williams, Guide to the Research Collections of the New York Public Library (Chicago, Illinois: American Library Association, 1975). ..
 * Estelle M. Guzik, Genealogical Resources in New York (New York: Jewish Genealogical Society, 2003), 137-86. ..
 * The New York Public Library Picture Collection covers over 12,000 subjects and is a valuable tool to researchers and others.

Guides

 * County Records Survey, 1985-1986 [of Pennsylvania]. [Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]: Pennsylvania Historical &amp; Museum Commission. Division of Archives and Manuscripts, 1986. Philadelphia County is not included, but Pittsburgh city is.
 * A very helpful guide is Sylvester K. Stevens and Donald H. Kent, eds., County Government and Archives in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1947; This guide describes the records kept by the county, the information they contain, when most began, and important history of their development.
 * Also helpful though dated is Irwin Richman, Historical Manuscript Depositories in Pennsylvania It provides a detailed description of the manuscripts in most libraries and archives in Pennsylvania in 1965.
 * A useful directory of eastern Pennsylvania libraries is Directory of Libraries and Information Sources in the Philadelphia Area