Chattanooga Tennessee FamilySearch Center

Whether you are just beginning to trace your roots or need additional resources to complete your search, the Chattanooga Family History Center offers access to the extensive resources available through FamilySearch International and the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The center is open to the public and admission is free of charge. Everyone is welcome! We can arrange for group visits by confirmed reservation ONLY.

Center Contacts and Hours
Location Map: Location map

Address: 3067 Ooltwah Ringgold Rd., Ooltwah TN 37363-8037


 * Language: English

Phone: Tom or Sherlly Tosh at (423) 954-9602, between 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.

E-mail: [mailto:tn_chattanooga@familyhistorymail.org&#x20;or&#x20;thomm@bellsouth.net tn_chattanooga@familyhistorymail.org] or thomm@bellsouth.net (Tom)

Open Hours:


 * **Open by appointment ONLY** please Call (number above) or e-mail tn_chattanooga@familyhistorymail.org for an appointment. Both Tom and Sherlly are available during weekday hours; some Saturdays, and are happy to meet you at the Family History center.  Never on Fridays.

Address: 3067 Ooltewah Ringgold Road, Ooltewah, TN

 * Pictured at right


 * Street view, front of building


 * Location Map: Location on Map
 * Ample parking is available
 * Pictured below: Rear of building from parking lot
 * FHC is inside rear entrance of building

 

Planning a Visit
Our FHC is staffed by local volunteers who can help get you started with family history research. They can guide you in using FHC resources and equipment. If you're planning a visit to our center to begin your genealogy, write down what you know about the family you wish to research: Names, birth/death dates, and Birth/Death City and State. Choose a research goal: for example - 2 generations back. This will help our volunteers to best teach you where to look.

♥Please call to calendar and confirm group visits in advance.♥

Microfilms are now online at the Family History Center ONLY.

Collections

 * FamilySearch Catalog: Search the Catalog to see if our a copy of the microfilm you are searching for is in our Family History Center.
 * Leonardo Andrea Collection -- This collection is online via FamilySearch.org at the Family History Center ONLY. There are 90 microfilms comprising folders of genealogical work on about 900 families collected by the late Leonardo Andrea, a famous South Carolinian genealogist. There are other films containing all of his other books and works.
 * McCubbins' Collection -- ONLINE are 76 microfilms of original and typescript holdings on the Rowan County, NC Public Library @ Salisbury. The first three (3) films Index the rest of the collection.
 * Patrons' Microfiche Collection -- ONLINE is a collection of fiche ordered by our patrons of assorted titles. These contain family histories, vital records, and other types of information. These are indexed in the blue binders in the bookcase.
 * ALL MICROFILMs that were previously at the Family History Center are now online through the Family History Center Portal ONLY - see below.

Databases and Software
FHC Portal This center has access to the Family History Center Portal page which gives free access in the center only to premium family history websites that generally charge for subscriptions, including:


 * ♥Ancestry.com
 * ♥19th Century British Library Newspaper Digital Archive
 * ♥Access Newspaper Archive -- the largest historical newspaper database online, contains tens of millions of newspaper pages from 1753 to present. Every newspaper in the archive is fully searchable by keyword and date, making it easy for you to quickly explore historical content. All 50 states plus 10 countries.
 * ♥Alexander Street Press - The American Civil War: Research Database Letters and Diaries Images, Photographs, Posters, and Ephemera
 * ♥ArkivDigital Online -- Swedish genealogy. Launch from the 'ArkivDigital Online' Start Menu or Desktop icon from a computer where the program has been installed.
 * ♥Find My Past -- 1.7 billion international family history records from the U.S., Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand and beyond with records going back to 1200. New collections are added every month,
 * ♥♥Fold3.com (Previously known as Footnote.com) -- Fold3 provides convenient access to US military records, including the stories, photos, and personal documents of the men and women who served.
 * ♥Godfrey Memorial Library -- Online access to the Middletown CT historical library's approximately 200,000 books and periodicals in its collection which includes state and local histories, family histories, biographies, church records, funeral records, cemetery records, military records, maps, and more.
 * ♥Heritage Quest Online -- a valuable genealogical resource available at this time only through library subscriptions like the Family History Center. U.S. Federal Census records from 1790 through 1930. (No index for 1830, 1840, 1850, nor 1880 census; for the 1930 census, only five states are indexed: Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Texas, and Virginia.) The online collection includes new indexes created by HeritageQuest. In addition to the ability to search by name, the census records can be searched by place of birth, age, ethnicity, and other variables. More than 25,000 fully searchable family and local history books. There are numerous other "non-history" books available that also have genealogy value, such as town and city directories, government reports made years ago, biographies, lectures, and much more. ♥Selected Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, again fully searchable with high-quality scanned images of the original applications available online. Signatures of and personal identification data about depositors in 29 branch offices of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, 1865-74. ♥PERSI (the PERiodical Source Index - a comprehensive subject index covering more than 6,500 genealogy and local history periodicals written in English and French since 1800). **Best of all, you can view the original records and book pages as high-quality images and even print individual pages on your local printer.
 * ♥Historic Map Works Library Edition -- Historic Map Works™ Library Edition is one of the most extensive digital map collections available, with over 1.5 million high-resolution, full color historic maps.
 * ♥Paper Trail -- a guide to overland pioneer names and documents.


 * ♥World Vital Records -- Records from United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, China, Cook Islands, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Fiji, Finland, Georgia, Greenland, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tonga, Turkey.

Hardware and Equipment

 * Four (4) desktop computers with FamilySearch internet access
 * Lexmark - Printer, Scanner, Copier

Services
Memory sticks/jump drives can be used to download information from the computers.

Patrons may bring their own laptops for note-taking or entering information into personal genealogical programs, with the disclaimer that the owner is responsible for the security of the device. Wireless internet is currently available in the building, though there may be days when availability is limited due to updating, etc.

Links

 * FamilySearch Research Wiki: What It Can Do For You!: A comprehensive video presentation explaining the Wiki, navigating it, and some especially useful pages. Case studies demonstrate using the Wiki for genealogical research. Editing and adding articles to the Wiki are covered.

http://chattlibrary.org/local-history

Hamilton County Genealogical Society

Chattanooga Area Historical Association

Tennessee Vital Records Office

Tennessee Electronic Library

Volunteer at the Center
We welcome volunteers from the community to serve in the Family History Center. It's a great way to help others and to learn by doing. You need not be an expert. Ability to use a computer and willingness to become familiar with the FamilySearch website and resources are key. Contact the FHC directors at the telephone or e-mail listed above for more information.