Nolan County, Texas Genealogy

Guide to Nolan County Texas ancestry, family history, and genealogy research page. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.

Texas Online Genealogy Records

Description
The county was named for Philip Nolan, one of the first American traders to visit Texas. The County is located in the west-central area of the state.

County Courthouse
Nolan County Courthouse 100 E 3rd Street; PO Box 98 Sweetwater, TX 79556-4511 Phone: 325-235-2462 County Clerk has birth, death and court records from 1900, marriage records from 1881, probate records from 1884 and land records from from 1889; District Clerk has divorce records; County Justice of Peace has burial records

County Clerk

100 East 3rd St. Ste 108 Sweetwater 79556 Phone: 325-235-2462 Fax: 325-235-4635

District Clerk

100 East 3rd St. Ste 200 Sweetwater 79556 Phone: 325-235-2111

History
1879--The first post office was established at Sweetwater in 1879.

Parent County
1876--Nolan County was created 21 August 1876 from Bexar Land District.
 * County seat: Sweetwater

Boundary Changes
See an interactive map of Nolan County boundary changes.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Places / Localities
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog



Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

Neighboring Counties
Coke •  Fisher  •  Jones  •  Mitchell  •  Runnels  •  Scurry  •  Taylor

African American

 * 1865 - 1870 Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1870(images) - FamilySearch
 * Texas African American Griots USGenWeb
 * AfriGeneas African Ancestored Genealogy

Cemeteries
Cemetery records often reveal birth, marriage, death, relationship, military, and religious information.

Additional Cemetery Sources


 * African American Cemeteries Online ~ Partial index/transcriptions of African American cemeteries
 * Texas Escapes Listing of Texas cemeteries with transcriptions and lots of pictures.

Church
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * Texas Christian Church Directory~ ChurchAngel
 * Catholic Parishes in Texas
 * FamilySearch Places

Court

 * Texas, Nolan County, Civil Court Minutes and Case Files - FamilySearch Historical Records

Local Histories

 * Nolan County Biographies ~  TXGenWeb
 * Nolan County History from the Handbook of Texas Online.
 * Texas Museums ~  List of all museums in Texas  ~  Hidden Ancestors

Maps

 * Sweetwater Maps ~  TXGenWeb
 * Historical Maps ~  From the Republic to the Turn of the Century  ~  Hidden Ancestors
 * Texas Counties Map. Click on the county to go to the TXGenWeb site.
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military

 * 1838 - 1900 Texas Muster Roll Index Cards at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * Military Resources ~ Links to research Civil War to Operation Enduring Freedom ~ Hidden Ancestors
 * Fallen Heroes Partial Index of casualties from Civil War to Operation Enduring Freedom ~ Hidden Ancestors
 * Honoring Our Veterans ~ Partial index of veterans from Civil War to Operation Enduring Freedom ~ Hidden Ancestors

Mexican-American War

 * 1845 - 1848 US American Volunteer Soldiers Mexican War at Ancestry.com — index $

Civil War

 * 1861 - 1865 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861 - 1865 at FamilySearch — index
 * Confederate Pension Applications ~ Texas State Library and Archives Commission
 * Confederate Pension Applications TXGenWeb

World War I

 * 1917 - 1920 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * WWI Registration TXGenWeb

World War II

 * WWII Enlistments TXGenWeb

Newspapers

 * Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line. Their database has digitized Abilene newspapers that may include residents from Nolan County.
 * Wikipedia has a list of online newspaper archives for Texas.
 * Home Town News -  Texas Newspaper Index with links
 * Newslink -  Texas Newspaper List (sorted by publication frequency)
 * The Olden Times  -   Historic Texas News Online
 * Texas Digital Newspaper Program at The Portal to Texas History

Obituaries

 * Obituary Resources ~ Links to research and locate obituaries ~ Hidden Ancestors
 * USGenWeb Archives Obituary Project ~  Texas
 * Afrigeneas ~ African American death notices, obituaries and funeral programs compiled by users from current newspapers and historical sources
 * Obituary Depot ~ Texas Newspaper Citations
 * Obituary Project ~ Hidden Ancestors
 * Obituary Daily Times ~ Citations to over 15,000,000 obituaries including interactive search function

Probate
Online Probate Indexes and Records


 * 1800 – 1990 at FamilySearch — images
 * 1800 – 2000 Texas Wills and Probate Records 1800-2000 at Ancestry.com — index and images $


 * Search Tax, Criminal, Land and Wills Records ~ Ancestry.com (subscription)

Taxation

 * 1846-1910 Texas, County Tax Rolls 1846-1910 at Findmypast ($) — index and images

Birth
Online Birth Indexes and Records


 * 1903-1935 Texas, Birth Certificates, 1903-1935 (images and index) - FamilySearch
 * 1903-1997 Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997 (index) - FamilySearch
 * 1926-1995 Texas Births, 1926 - 1995 at MyHeritage ($) — index

Marriage
Online Marriage Indexes and Records


 * 1802-2010 Texas, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
 * 1814-1909 and 1966-2011 Texas Marriage Collection at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1837-1965 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1837-1973 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1837-1977 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1837-1977 Texas Select County Marriage Index 1837-1977 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1966-2005 Texas Marriage Records - Hidden Ancestors
 * 1966-2010 at FamilySearch
 * 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage ($) — index

Death
Online Death Indexes and Records


 * 1890-1976 Texas Death Records [with images] Name index and images of statewide death certificates. The name index has been created by FamilySearch and is tied to images of the Texas death certificates. Few certificates are available prior to 1903.
 * 1903-1973 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1903-1982 Texas Death Certificates at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1903-2000 Texas, Death Index, 1903-2000 (index) - FamilySearch
 * 1964-1998 Texas Death Index | Texas, Death Index 1964 - 1998 FamilySearch Historical Records Name index to Texas Statewide Death Certificates or four million people who have died since 1964.
 * 1977-1986 at FamilySearch.org — index

Divorce

 * Texas Divorce Records ~ Hidden Ancestors
 * 1968-2010 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1968-2011 Texas Divorces at Ancestry.com — index $


 * 1850-1930 USGenWeb Census Project Texas
 * 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage ($) — index

Societies and Libraries

 * Nolan County Genealogical Assn. c/o County-City Library 206 Elm PO Box 780 Sweetwater, TX 79556
 * County-City Library 206 Elm St Sweetwater, TX 79556 Phone: 325-235-4978 Website

Family History Centers

 * Abilene Texas Family History Center
 * Big Spring Texas Family History Center
 * Snyder Texas Family History Center


 * Brownwood Texas Genealogical Library - an affiliate library
 * Comanche Public Library - an affiliate library
 * Cross Plains Public Library - an affiliate library

Websites

 * Nolan County Archives ~  USGenWeb Archives Project
 * TXGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the county.
 * USGenWeb Texas Archives Vital statistics, maps, obituaries, Bible records, tombstone transcriptions and many other records.
 * — The catalog is genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) This catalog is different than the indexed Historical Records.