Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Church Records

List of Churches and Church Parishes in Dauphin County

 * FamilySearch Places

Databases with Several Denominations

 * 1620-1991 (*) at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images


 * 1708-1985 Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985 at Historical Society of Pennsylvania – ($), free to members of the society, List of Churches Included; Also available at Ancestry.com ($)


 * 1744-1844 Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Church Records at Ancestry ($).


 * 1757-1825 Humphrey, John T. Pennsylvania Births, Dauphin County, 1757-1825 Washington, D.C.: PA Genealogy Books, 2005..


 * Dauphin County Church Records at USGenWeb Archives - Includes Church histories and records.

Lutheran Church
Bindnagle Lutheran and Reformed Church, Derry Township
 * 1724-1793 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch — index

Hill Lutheran Church, Derry Township
 * 1752-1825 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch — index
 * Records of the Hill Lutheran Church in Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, 1892 at Ancestry ($).

Klinger's Evangelical Lutheran and Reformed Church, Upper Paxton Township
 * 1787-1875 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch — index

St. John's Lutheran Church near Berrysburg, Miflin Township
 * 1780-1875 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch — index
 * 1854-1873 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch — index

St. Matthew Evangelical Lutheran Church, Lykens Township
 * 1872-1875 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch — index

St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Middletown
 * 1783-1861 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch — index
 * 1814-1822 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch — index
 * 1835-1858 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch — index

Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, Killinger
 * 1770-1855 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch — index

St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Derry Township
 * 1757-1866 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch — index

Union Salem Church, Berrysburg
 * 1837-1875 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch — index
 * 1863-1880 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch — index

Zion Evangelical Lutheran and Evangelical Reformed Congregations, Erdman
 * 1769-1875 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch — index

Zion Lutheran Church, Harrisburg
 * 1795-1809 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch — index

Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Hummelstown
 * 1753-1875 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch — index
 * 1823-1830, 1847, 1855-1880 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch — index

Methodist Church

 * 1860-1997 Saint Paul's United Methodist Church, Harrisburg, Pa. at Ancestry ($). Baptisms, marriages, and deaths.

Presbyterian Church
The first three churches established in the county were the Hanover, Paxtang and Derry Churches. These were organized prior to 1730.Luther Reily Kelker, "History of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania" (New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1907) 224-240. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library; also at


 * 1741-1810 Marriage Record of Paxtang and Derry Churches, 1741-1810 (Pennsylvania Archives, Series 2, Vol. 8, Part 10) at Ancestry ($); Google Books

The Hanover Presbyterian Church was built in 1736 in a Scotch-Irish settlement in what is now Lebanon County. This settlement was previously in Lancaster County, before Dauphin County was formed. Wayland F. Dunaway, The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania (Chapel Hill, N.C.: The University of North Carolina Press, 1944), 53-54. Free digital version at PA's Past: Digital Bookshelf at Penn State.

Derry Presbyterian Congregation, Derry Township
 * 1807-1839  in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - index
 * 1807-1841  in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - index

Harrisburg Presbyterian Church
 * 1798-1803  in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - index

Pine Street Presbyterian Church, Harrisburg
 * 1858-1876  in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - index
 * 1865-1866  in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - index

Westminster Presbyterian Church, Harrisburg
 * 1889-1890 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - index
 * 1873-1885 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - index

Reformed Church
Hoffman Reformed Church
 * 1800-1855 Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, 1800-55: Hoffman Reformed Church at Ancestry ($). Includes more than 8,400 records of baptisms, marriages, and burials for the Hoffman Reformed Church located in the Lykens Valley.

Shoop's Reformed Church, Harrisburg
 * 1771-1830 in International Genealogical Index] at FamilySearch - index



Archives, Libraries, and Societies with Church Records
The Historical Society of Dauphin County has an excellent collection of records and photographs for many local area churches. Their records include baptisms, marriages and death records for many Dauphin County churches, some dating back to the 1700's. The society also maintains an archive with hundreds of manuscript items. Details of their manuscript holdings are available on their website. For information about research services and fees, see the "Research Fees" page.

The Capital Area Genealogical Society in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania has some published Dauphin County church records. See the Research Library Holdings page for a 2010 pdf. list of all their holdings.

For a good history concerning early churches of Dauphin County, see History of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The religion section is divided into town and township and discusses the denominations in each of the areas.