San José del Golfo, Guatemala, Guatemala Genealogy

Guide to Municipality of San José del Golfo ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, church records, parish registers, and civil registration.

History

 * During the Spanish colonial era, Omoa, in present-day Honduras, was the only port on the Atlantic coast near Guatemala; small ships were used to reach the province of Guatemala, those that carried the products that the province needed or exported through the Motagua River, which was navigable to Gualán, from where the products were transported in canoes to Tocoy Tzima to finally transport them to the City of Guatemala in yuntas that passed through San José del Golfo.
 * After the Independence of Central America in 1821, it was assigned to the district of Guatemala.
 * It was founded as a department on March 17, 1882.
 * The department of El Progreso annexed it when it was created on April 13, 1908.
 * The department was dismantled in 1920, and although it was established again in 1934, San José del Golfo remained in the department of Guatemala.
 * The earthquake of February 4, 1976 almost completely destroyed the municipality.
 * The municipality of San José del Golfo has a population of approximately 6,000 people

Civil Registration

 * 1877-1980 Guatemala, Civil Registration, 1877-1980 at Ancestry - index & images ($)
 * 1880-1933 (*) at FamilySearch Catalog — images

Church Records

 * 1581-1977 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

Census Records

 * There are no records for only the municipality of San José del Golfo. See the records of neighboring municipalities.