Missouri Archives and Libraries

The following archives, libraries, and societies have collections or services to assist genealogical researchers:

Missouri State Archives 600 West Main Street Jefferson City, MO 65102 Telephone: 314-751-3280 Fax: 573-526-7333 Internet: http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/

A helpful guide to the collection is A Guide to the Missouri State Archives (Jefferson City, Missouri: Missouri Secretary of State, 198-; not at FHL).

National Archives—Central Plains Region (Kansas City) 2312 East Bannister Road Kansas City, MO 64131 Telephone: 816-926-6934 Fax: 816-926-6235 Internet: http://www.archives.gov/central-plains/

Missouri State Genealogical Association P.O. Box 833 Columbia, MO 65205-0833 Telephone: 816-747-9330 Internet: http://www.mosga.org/

State Historical Society of Missouri 1020 Lowry Columbia, MO 65201-7298 Telephone: 573-882-7083 Fax: 573-884-4950 Internet: http://www.umsystem.edu/shs/index.shtml

Missouri Historical Society Library and Research Center Jefferson Memorial Building 255 South Skinker Boulevard St. Louis, MO 63112-0040 Telephone: 314-746-4599 Fax: 314-746-4548 Internet: http://www.mohistory.org/content/LibraryAndResearch/LRCGeneralInfo.aspx

Mailing Address: Missouri Historical Society Library and Research Center P.O. Box 11940 St. Louis, MO 63112-0040

A helpful guide to the society's collection is Beverly D. Bishop and Janice L. Fox, A List of Manuscript Collections in the Archives of the Missouri Historical Society(St. Louis: Missouri Historical Society, 1982; FHL book 977.8 A3b).

St. Louis Public Library History and Genealogy Department 1301 Olive Street St. Louis, MO 63103-2389 Telephone: 314-241-2288 Fax: 314-539-0393 Internet: http://www.slpl.org/index.asp

For further information see George Gambrill, Genealogical Material and Local Histories in the St. Louis Public Library, Rev. ed. (St. Louis, Missouri: St. Louis Public Library, 1965; FHL book 977.866 A3s; film 928060 items 7-8, 1965/66 catalog and 1971 supplement).

Kansas City Public Library Heart of America Genealogical Society 311 East 12th Street Kansas City, MO 64106-2454 Telephone: 816-221-2685 Fax: 816-421-7484 Internet: http://www.kclibrary.org/

Mid-Continent Public Library 15616 East Highway 24 Independence, MO 64050 Telephone: 816-836-5200 Fax: 816-521-7253 Internet: http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/

The Mid-Continent Public Library shares its genealogical materials through interlibrary loan.

To learn more about the history, record keeping, and available records of Missouri counties, use the 15 inventories of the county archives published by the Historical Records Survey around 1940. The Family History Library has copies of most of these inventories.

You should also be aware that records kept at the state capitol were lost by fires in 1837 and 1911. Several counties in Missouri have also lost records due to fire, war, and other destruction.

Computer Networks and Bulletin Boards
Computers with modems can be useful 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 on-line 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 Missouri in a variety of sources at local, state, national, and international levels. The list of sources is growing rapidly. Most of the information is available at no cost.

Addresses on the Internet change frequently. As of April 1997, 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.

For further details about using computer networks, bulletin boards, and news groups for family history research, see the United States Research Outline (30972), 2nd ed., "Archives and Libraries" section.

FamilySearch™
http://www.familysearch.org/

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