Pennsylvania Archives and Libraries

The following archives, libraries, and societies have major collections or services helpful to genealogical researchers.

Pennsylvania State Archives
P.O. Box 1026 Harrisburg, PA 17108-1026 Telephone: 717-783-3281 Internet: http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/overview.htm

The Family History Library has these important guides to collections at the State Archives:

Suran, Frank M. Guide to the Record Groups in the Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1980. (FHL book 974.8 A1 no. 393.)

Baumann, Roland M., and Diane S. Wallace. Guide to the Microfilm Collections in the Pennsylvania State Archives. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1980. (FHL book 974.8 A3ba.)

Dructor, Robert M. A Guide to Genealogical Sources at the Pennsylvania State Archives. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1980. (FHL book 974.8 D23p.)

Fortna, Nancy L. P., and Frank M. Suran. Guide to County and Municipal Records on Microfilm in the Pennsylvania State Archives. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1982. (FHL book 974.8 Al no. 613.)

Whipkey, Harry E. Guide to the Manuscript Groups in the Pennsylvania State Archives. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1976. (FHL book 974.8 A5w; film 1036704 item 13.)

Guide to the Microfilm of the Records of Pennsylvania's Revolutionary Governments, 1775-1790 : (record group 27) in the Pennsylvania State Archives. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1979. (FHL book 974.8 N23g.)

For an index to this guide, see:

Baumann, Roland M. and Diane Smith Wallace. Index to the Guide to the Microfilm of the Records of Pennsylvania's Revolutionary Governments, 1775-1790, in the Pennsylvania State Archives. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1980. (FHL book 974.8 N23g index.)

National Archives—Philadelphia Branch
9th and Market Streets Philadelphia, PA 19107 Telephone: 215-597-3000 Fax: 215-597-2303 Internet: http://www.archives.gov/midatlantic/

Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania
1305 Locust Street Philadelphia, PA 19107-5699 Telephone: 215-545-0391 Fax: 215-545-0936 Internet: http://www.genpa.org/

See the "Genealogy" section of this outline for a discussion of the resources of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania.

Historical Society of Pennsylvania
1300 Locust Street Philadelphia, PA 19107-5699 Telephone: 215-732-6201 Fax: 215-732-2680 Internet: http://www.hsp.org/

An important resource for this society is Guide to the Manuscript Collections of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 3rd ed. (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Society, 1991; FHL book 974.811 J53h).

Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society
1212 Smallman Street Pittsburgh, PA 15222 Telephone: 412-454-6000 Fax: 412-454-6028 Internet: http://digital.library.pitt.edu/hswp/

Commonwealth Libraries
Walnut St. and Commonwealth Avenue P.O. Box 1601 Harrisburg, PA 17105 Telephone: 717-787-4440 Fax: 717-783-5420 Internet: http://www.statelibrary.state.pa.us/libraries/site/default.asp

A helpful source is A Guide to the Genealogy/Local History Section of the State Library of Pennsylvania, 3rd rev. ed. (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: The Division, 1987; FHL book 974.8 A3d; film [1985 rev. ed.] 1320564 item 6). See also Janice B. Newman, Genealogical Research at the State Library of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 35 (1988): 199-212. See the "Periodicals" section of this outline.

City Archives of Philadelphia
Dept. of Records 401 N. Broad Street, Suite 942 Philadelphia, PA 19108-1099 Telephone: 215-686-1580 Fax: 215-686-2283 Internet: http://www.phila.gov/phils/Docs/Inventor/genealgy.htm

A helpful guide is John C. Daly, Descriptive Inventory of the Archives of the City and County of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: City of Philadelphia, Department of Records, 1970; Supplement, 1980; FHL book 974.811 A3d; film 1036003 item 4).

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
4400 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213-4080 Telephone: 412-622-3100 Fax: 412-621-1267 Internet: http://www.clpgh.org/

To learn more about the history and record-keeping systems of Pennsylvania counties, use the county archive inventories produced around 1940 by the Historical Records Survey. The Family History Library has copies of 17 published inventories and 40 unpublished inventories. See:

Inventory of the County Archives of Pennsylvania: Records of the Works Project Administration, Pennsylvania Historical Writer's Project. Historical Records Survey. (On 5 FHL films beginning with 1014724.) These records contain material on many counties that did not publish an inventory.

A more current list is:

County Records Survey, 1985-1986 [of Pennsylvania]. [Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]: Pennsylvania Historical &amp; Museum Commission. Division of Archives and Manuscripts, 1986. (On 7 FHL fiche 6333952.) Philadelphia County is not included, but Pittsburgh city is.

A very helpful guide is Sylvester K. Stevens and Donald H. Kent, eds., County Government and Archives in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1947; FHL book 974.8 N2s; film 1320887 item 10). This guide describes the records kept by the county, the information they contain, when most began, and important history of their development.

Also helpful though dated is Irwin Richman, Historical Manuscript Depositories in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1965; FHL book 974.8 H23r). It provides a detailed description of the manuscripts in most libraries and archives in Pennsylvania in 1965.

A useful directory of eastern Pennsylvania libraries is Directory of Libraries and Information Sources in the Philadelphia Area (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Special Libraries Association, Philadelphia Chapter, 1977; FHL book 974.811 J54s; film 1036557 item 9).

Computer Networks and Bulletin Boards
Computers with modems are important tools for obtaining information from selected archives and libraries. In a way, computer networks themselves serve as a library. The Internet, certain computer bulletin boards, and commercial online services help family history researchers:


 * Locate other researchers
 * Post queries
 * Send and receive E-mail
 * Search large databases
 * Search computer libraries
 * Join in computer chat and lecture sessions

You can find computerized research tips and information about ancestors from Pennsylvania in a variety of local, state, national, and international sources. The list of sources is growing rapidly. Most of the information is available at no cost. Addresses on the Internet are subject to frequent changes. The following sites are important gateways linking you to many more network and bulletin board sites:

USGenWeb
http://www.usgenweb.com/

A cooperative effort by many volunteers to list genealogical databases, libraries, bulletin boards, and other resources available on the Internet for each county, state, and country.

Roots-L
http://www.rootsweb.com/roots-l/usa/

A useful list of sites and resources. Includes a large, regularly updated research coordination list.

To get started with computer network research regarding Pennsylvania, contact the following:

Ohio River Valley Families
http://orvf.com/

Contains 13,035 related family members dating back to the 15th century.

Sullivan-Rutland Genealogy Project
http://www.rootsweb.com/~srgp/srgpmain.htm

Contains 60,000 ancestors and descendants of the early 19th century pioneers of Sullivan and Rutland townships in Tioga County, PA. Includes all cemetery and census information and some diaries and letters from 1850 to the present.

For further details about using computer networks, bulletin boards, and news groups for family history research, see the United States Research Outline, 2nd ed., in the  Archives and Library section.

FamilySearch™
www.familysearch.org

The Family History Library and some Family History Centers have computers with FamilySearch™. FamilySearch, a collection of computer files containing several million names, is a good place to begin your research. Some of the records come from compiled sources; some have been automated from original sources.