West Virginia Archives and Libraries

The following repositories preserve sources, maintain indexes, and provide services to help genealogists document their ancestors who lived in West Virginia. Remember, prior to 1863 West Virginia was part of Virginia, and many early West Virginia records are housed in Virginia Archives and Libraries.

Wiki Articles on Repositories for West Virginia
Boyd County Public Library (Ashland, KY)· Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library· Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh, PA)· Library of Congress (Washington, DC)· Library of Virginia (Richmond, VA)· Martinsburg-Berkeley County Public Library· Mary Ball Washington Museum and Library (Lancaster, VA)· Maryland State Archives (Annapolis, MD) · National Archives I (Washington, DC)· National Archives II (College Park, MD)· National Archives at Philadelphia (PA)· New York Public Library (New York City, NY)· Parkersburg and Wood County Public Library· Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston· Santa Cruz Public Library Downtown (Santa Cruz, CA)· University of Chicago Library (Chicago, IL)· Virginia Historical Society (Richmond, VA)· Washington National Records Center (Suitland, MD)· West Virginia Archives and History· West Virginia University Wise Library· West Virginia Vital Registration Office

Online Records of West Virginia
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Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave. SE Thomas Jefferson Building, LJ G4 Washington, D.C. 20540-4660 Telephone: Reading Room: 202-707-5537 Fax: 202-707-1957 E-mail: Ask a Librarian form Website: Library of Congress
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 * The Library of Congress "Local History and Genealogy Reading Room" has moved to the main reading room, but services are unchanged. They are part of the world's largest library including 50,000 genealogies, 100,000 local histories, and collections of manuscripts, microfilms, maps, newspapers, photographs, and published material, strong in North American (including West Virginia), British Isles, and German sources.

National Archives II
8601 Adelphi Road College Park, MD 20740-6001 Telephone: 866-272-6272 Fax: 301-837-0483 E-mail: I have a question form Internet: National Archives at College Park, Maryland
 * Archives II houses documents created after 1900 at the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, Labor, State, Transportation, and Treasury, modern military records, passport applications, and District of Columbia records. Residents of West Virginia are found in their records.

National Archives at Philadelphia
14700 Townsend Road Philadelphia, PA 19154-1096 Telephone: 215-305-2044 Fax: 215-305-2052 E-mail: [mailto:Philadelphia.archives@nara.gov Philadelphia.archives@nara.gov] Website: National Archives Philadelphia
 * This branch has federal agency and court records for Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. All U.S. federal censuses 1790-1940, and indexes. Also has passenger arrivals in Philadelphia 1800-1945 and Baltimore, pension and bounty land warrant applications, naturalizations 1790-1990, 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.



Washington National Records Center
WNRC 4205 Suitland Road Suitland, MD 20746-8001 NARA telephone: 866-272-6272 NARA E-mail: Contact Us form Internet: Services for the Public
 * Older than 15-years federal criminal court, federal civil court, and federal bankruptcy court records, and the federal agency records from the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.

West Virginia Archives and History
The Cultural Center Capitol Complex 1900 Kanawha Boulevard East Charleston, WV 25305-0300 Telephone: 304-558-0220 Fax: 304-558-2779 Website: Archives and History Library Website: West Virginia Archives and History: Genealogy Corner Click on records to search and view digitized records.
 * This the best place to start West Virginia genealogy research. They have manuscripts, biographies, county histories, and tax records.

West Virginia Vital Registration Office
Room 165 350 Capitol Street Charleston, WV 25301-3701 Telephone: General questions (but no certificate requests) 304-558-2931 Website: Requesting WV Vital Records
 * The West Virginia Vital Registration Office has:
 * West Virginia births 1917-present
 * West Virginia delayed birth records starting around 1850
 * West Virginia marriage indexes 1924-present
 * West Virginia marriages 1964-present
 * West Virginia deaths 1917-present
 * West Virginia divorce indexes 1967-present
 * Certified copies. Certificates are hand abstracted from the original source document. The person on a certificate, parents, grandparents, wife, husband, child, grandchild, brother, or sister of the person on a certificate may request a copy. Close relatives can obtain certified copies of BMD, and divorce records from the West Virginia Vital Registration Office in these ways:
 * In person. Fastest delivery. Their fee must be paid by cash, check, or money order.
 * By mail. Slowest delivery. See their Certificate Request Forms Internet page. Their fee must be paid by check, or money order.
 * Online, or by telephone, or fax. You can use a credit card to pay their fee and request express delivery of an official West Virginia certified copy of a vital record for an extra fee from the private company VitalChek West Virginia.
 * Genealogical research. A good resource for West Virginia genealogical vital record information is the West Virginia Archives and History Library in Charleston. Among other sources, they have early (pre-1917) county birth and death records. For marriage records prior to 1964 contact the county clerk of the county where the license was obtained.
 * Online indexes. Internet sites like Ancestry.com ($) provide information from some of West Virginia's vital records, for example, Ancestry.com has West Virginia births 1804-1938, marriages 1785-1971, and deaths 1853-1973.

Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library
404 West Pike Street Clarksburg, WV 26301 Telehone: 304-627-2236 Fax: 304-627-2239 E-mail: Contact form Website: Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library
 * This is a large genealogical collection with indexes, periodicals, histories, obituaries, cemeteries, and family folders.

Martinsburg-Berkeley County Public Library
101 West King Street Martinsburg, WV 25401 Telephone: 304-267-8933 Fax: 304-267-9720 Website: History and Genealogy Resources
 * They have a good genealogy collection with many sources for the earliest West Virginia settlers.

Parkersburg Wood County Public Library
Parkersburg and Wood County Public Library 3100 Emerson Ave. Parkersburg, WV26104-2414 Telephone: 304-420-4587 Fax: 304-420-4589 Website: Parkersburg and Wood County Public Library
 * West Augusta Historical and Genealogical Society's collection includes genealogies, family histories, cemetery transcripts, obituaries and family folders. Covers northwest West Virginia and parts of southwest Pennsylvania.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston
Archives 114 Broad Street, Carriage House Charleston, SC 29401 Telephone: 843-410-1720 Website: Archives and Record Management
 * Diocese Archives records pertain to the chancery, parishes, clergy, men and women religious, laity, schools, cemeteries, hospitals, social services, buildings, and properties. Please make an appointment before visiting.



West Virginia University Wise Library
West Virginia and Regional History Center PO Box 6069 1549 University Ave Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 Telephone: 304-293-3536 Fax: 304-293-3981 Website: West Virginia Collection
 * World's largest collection of West Virginia-related research material including 4.5 million manuscript documents, 30,000 books, 15,000 pamphlets, 1,200 newspapers, 100,000 photographs and prints, 5,000 maps, 25,000 microfilms, and oral histories.
 * A useful guide to this collection is James W. Hess, Guide to Manuscripts and Archives in the West Virginia Collection. Morgantown, West Virginia. West Virginia University Library, 1974. The 1959 edition by Charles Shetler, is on

Boyd County Public Library
Ashland Main Branch 1740 Central Ave Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Telephone: 606-329-0518 Fax: 606-329-0578 Website: Boyd County Public Library]
 * Near where Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia come together, this library has many sources about West Virginia people, including family folders, biographies, genealogies, and pedigrees.

Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
Senator John Heinz History Center, Library and Archives 1212 Smallman Street Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222 Telephone: 412-454-6364 E-mail: [mailto:library@heinzhistorycenter.org library@heinzhistorycenter.org] Internet: http://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/libraryArchives.aspx
 * Colonial records of the Ohio Company with land grants and settlers since the 1750's in southwestern Pennsylvania and the area that became West Virginia.

Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street Richmond, Virginia 23219-8000 Telephone: 804-692-3500 Fax: 804-692-3556 E-mail: Contact Us Select department to open dialog box Website: Library of Virginia
 * The Library of Virginia is an important resource for pre-1863 West Virginia research. Their large genealogical collection has family Bibles, birth, marriages, deaths, divorces, histories, biographies, and newspapers. Many of their manuscripts are now online. The General Library contains printed materials, while the Research and Information Services Division consists of government records and other historical documents. Many collections are available online, such as Confederate pensions, veterans and widows, an index to wills and administrations, Revolutionary War bounty land, and Virginia Land Office patents and grants.

Mary Ball Washington Museum and Library
8346 Mary Ball Road Lancaster, Virginia 22503 Telehone: 804-462-7280 Fax: 804-462-6107 E-mail: [mailto:nfo@mbwm.org nfo@mbwm.org] Website: Mary Ball Washington Museum and Library
 * A small library with a good name index to nearly every history book published in Virginia, West Virginia, or Kentucky, including court records from 1651, indexes and abstracts, Virginia vital records, census records, county histories, biographies, church and cemetery records, family histories, newspapers, obituaries, vertical files, militia records, and fraternal organizations.

Maryland State Archives
Hall of Records Building 350 Rowe Boulevard Annapolis, MD 21401 Telephone: 410-260-6400 Fax: 410-974-2525 E-mail: [mailto:ref@mdsa.net ref@mdsa.net] Internet: Maryland State Archives
 * This is the premier facility for locating Maryland ancestors who migrated into West Virginia. The Maryland State Archives online has nearly all available public records from 1634 to 1789; most original state and county records through the mid-twentieth century; microfilm copies of land, probate, and vital records to the present; and over 130 major card indexes to Maryland land records and early settlers, newspapers, county records, church records, family, and business records. This is the most complete collection of any of the 13 colonies. It can take up the three days just to check the indexes. For more information about the state archives, see the following references.
 * Maryland. Hall of Records. A Guide to the Index Holdings at the Hall of Records. Rev., Bulletin, [Maryland. Hall of Records] No. 17. (Annapolis, Maryland: Hall of Records, 1972.) This is a county-by-county list of indexes and years covered.
 * Papenfuse, Edward C., et al. A Guide to Government Records at the Maryland State Archives: A Comprehensive List by Agency and Record Series. (Annapolis, Maryland: Maryland State Archives, 1992.) This guide lists record types, years covered, and series number.
 * Papenfuse, Edward C., et. al. A Guide to the Maryland Hall of Records: Local, Judicial and Administrative Records on Microfilm. Volume 1. (Annapolis, Maryland: Hall of Records Commission, 1978.) Volume one is a detailed list of many records on microfilm for Allegany County, Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, and Baltimore City, Maryland. These include court, probate, and land records. The archives has additional computer printout lists for all counties. You can write to them for information about records of specific localities and time periods.
 * Radoff, Morris Leon, et al. The County Courthouses and Records of Maryland, Part Two: The Records. (Annapolis, Maryland: Hall of Records Commission, 1963.) This is a county-by-county list of record types, years covered, and series number.

New York Public Library
U.S. History, Local History and Genealogy Division Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, Room 315S New York, New York 10018-2788 Telephone: 212-930-0829 E-mail: Ask a Librarian form Website: New York Public Library
 * This is one of the largest research libraries in the world, including excellent genealogical resources for West Virginia. 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, try the Map Division at the same address.

Santa Cruz Public Library Downtown
224 Church Street Santa Cruz, California 95060 Telephone: 831-427-7707 ext. 5794 E-mail: E-mail reference service form Website: Santa Cruz Public Library
 * Holds the Genealogical Society of Santa Cruz County's library, including the Tina Brayton Collection which is equivalent to the Draper Manuscript Collection  but larger and with a better index, and many compiled genealogies of Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia families.

University of Chicago Library
1100 East 57th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637-1502 Phone: (773) 702-4085 E-mail: Ask a librarian form Internet: The University of Chicago Library
 * This library has plentiful historical records. Noteworthy is the Durrett Collection  of historical Kentucky, West Virginia, and Ohio River Valley manuscripts. The size and content of this collection is comparable to the Draper Manuscript Collection. It includes the earliest people in the Ohio Valley.

Virginia Historical Society
428 North Blvd Richmond, Virginia 23221-0311 Telephone: 804-358-4901 E-mail: Ask a Librarian form Website: Virginia Historical Society, Looking for People
 * They have more records for early West Virginia than in any West Virginia repository. County records such as marriages, county court records, wills, censuses, land, militia lists, bounty lands, passenger lists, tax lists, poll lists, genealogies, newspapers, family Bibles, and African American genealogy. They have a card index to 10 million documents of the Old Dominion, that is Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky.

Guidebook

 * Ellen Garrison, Archives in Appalachia: A Directory (Boone, North Carolina: Appalachian Consortium Press, 1985). ; . Includes Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia arranged alphabetically by state, then by the name of the repository. Each entry lists the archive, its address, phone number, inclusive dates of the collection, the records of the collection, what subjects are covered by the collection, and the size of the collection. There are two indexes: Record type, and Subject, with reference numbers corresponding to the repository.