Los Angeles County, California Genealogy

United States California Los Angeles County

Guide to Los Angeles County, California ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Los Angeles Plaza 1869

County Courthouse
The County Clerk has divorce records from 1880 and probate and court records from 1850. The County Recorder has birth, marriage, death and land records

Parent County
18 February 1850: Los Angeles County was created as one of 27 original counties in the new state of California. Prior to the creation of the county, the records were either at city or Franciscan mission places.

County seat: Los Angeles

Boundary Changes
The original County of Los Angeles covered a large part of Southern California including parts of what is now Kern County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County, and Orange County. These areas split off to form San Bernardino County in 1853, Kern County in 1866, and Orange County in 1889. In 1893 part of San Bernardino County that had originally been part of Los Angeles County became part of Riverside County.

For animated maps illustrating California county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation California County Boundary Maps" (1850-1925) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Records Loss
For a list of record loss in California counties see: California Counties with Burned Courthouses

Populated Places
Los Angeles County contains 88 incorporated cities (2010) and many more named places. Los Angeles City also contains a large number of named areas many of which had their origins before they were annexed into Los Angeles.

Cities: Beverly Hills, Burbank, Compton, Los Angeles, Whittier, San Marino, more cities...

Communities: Hacienda Heights, South Whittier, Topanga, Universal City, East Los Angeles, more...

Neighboring Counties

 * Kern *Orange *San Bernardino *Ventura

Biography
Local histories and biographies of the Los Angeles area are numerous. The Calfornia GenWeb project has created name indexes for some of these books. To see those, click here. Courtesy of the Long Beach Public Library, historic photos of Long Beach are available to see here. Long Beach Photos. Ancestry.com ($) has an online searchable copy of Greater Los Angeles &amp; Southern California : portraits &amp; personal memoranda. Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1910. The use of Ancestry is free at many libraries. Also available at some libraries (WorldCat).

Cemeteries
For a list with cemetery names, contact information, and some lists of names of deceased, see Cemeteries in the City of Los Angeles. It shows the numerous cemeteries in Los Angeles and Hollywood, which is part of the city.

Cemeteries in the County of Los Angeles lists the cemeteries in the county, but not in the city itself. This includes San Pedro and Wilmington.

A book was made with cemetery inscriptions from Sunnyside Cemetery, Long Beach; Long Beach Municipal Cemetery; and Wilmington Cemetery, Wilmington:


 * Some Early Southern California Burials. Questing Heirs Genealogical Society, Long Beach, California, 1974. Available at various libraries (WorldCat). The online version is here.

FindaGrave is also an excellent source for burial information.

To see the US GenWeb Tombstone Transcription project, click here.

Census
For information about Los Angeles city census records, see the Los Angeles wiki page.

Baptist

 * Records of the First Baptist Church in Glendale, California as of June 1. 1929 can be searched here. Courtesy of the church and of the Southern California Genealogical Society.

Lutheran

 * Records of the American Lutheran Church, Los Angeles County, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Court Records
For the years from 1854 to 1938, the Family History Library has a microfilm series of circuit court records for Los Angeles County and other areas. These include common rule books, equity, equity decree registers, Judgement registers, common law and other items. These can be ordered and viewed at any Family History Center. To order, check the Catalog at www.familysearch.org under the Search tab.

Directories

 * Southwest Blue Book for 1923-1924 lists online the names and addresses and maiden names of society members, United Daughters of the Confederacy, Los Angeles Athletic Club members, and Pacific Fleet Officers as well as marriages of members in 1923: courtesy of CA Gen Web.
 * Ancestry.com ($) has Los Angeles City Directories for 1888-1890.
 * Fold3.com ($) has Los Angeles City Directories 1873, 1875, 1878-1924 (5 yrs. missing) available online. This database is sometimes free at libraries.
 * Long Beach City Directories: 1899-1966: courtesy of the Long Beach Public Library
 * The first Los Angeles city and county directory, 1872, reprint edition is available at various libraries (World Cat)

Ethnic, Political, or Religious Groups
Spanish missionaries founded California and thus Hispanics were and continue to be a significant part of the population. Some Italian and German settlers came early to this area as well.

Los Angeles County also has a significant Asian American history.

For more information about religious and minority groups, see the wiki page for the city of Los Angeles.

Genealogy
The American History and Genealogy Project has a webpage with links to much helpful information; biographies of early Glendale and El Monte residents and more, histories, and newspapers, and photos of early Southern California. Find that here.

Maps

 * Maps of California (1850-1925)



Migration
Early migration routes to and from for emigrant settlers included:


 * Camino Real de California 1770s linking Spanish Mission churches in California and Baja California
 * Old Spanish Trail 1829 Los Angeles, California to Santa Fe, New Mexico
 * California Trail 1846 to 1869 from western Missouri to northern California
 * Mormon Trail to Southern California 1847 from Salt Lake City, Utah to Los Angeles, California
 * Butterfield Overland Mail 1857-1861 from San Francisco via Los Angeles to Memphis, Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri
 * Central Overland Trail 1859-1869 from Salt Lake City, Utah to Carson City, Nevada (and usually on to northern California)
 * Union Pacific Railroad 1869 Ogden, Utah to Omaha, Nebraska
 * Central Pacific Railroad 1869 Ogden, Utah to Sacramento, California
 * Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway 1881 Los Angeles, California to Chicago, Illinois
 * Southern Pacific Railroad 1883 Los Angeles, California to New Orleans, Louisiana
 * Atlantic and Pacific Railroad 1885 Los Angeles, California to Albuquerque, New Mexico (and the Santa Fe Railway)

Historical Forts
Fort Drum 1862-1871 (Wilmington)

Fort McArthur 1914-1974 (San Pedro)

Fort Tejon 1854-1864 (Tejon Pass near Grapevine)

Civil War

 * - 1st Regiment, California Infantry (Union), Company B
 * - 1st Battalion, California Native Cavalry (Union), Company C
 * - 1st Battalion, California Native Cavalry (Union), Company D

World War I
Second to None has a short review of the WW I activities of this division of Marines, and detailed history of the Second Division Association of Los Angeles, and a some brief biographies of its members.


 * Jackson, S. Melvin. 1933. Second to none. Los Angeles [California]: Sam Babcock, Sixth Marines. At various libraries (WorldCat).

Naturalization and Citizenship
The Los Angeles County Archives has records of Los Angeles County for the years 1856 to 1886: Los Angeles County Archives 225 North Broadway Los Angeles, California 90012 Telephone: 562-462-2137

Newspapers

 * The Los Angeles Public Library has made available on its website an index to newspaper and periodical articles containing obituary information on renowned actors, authors, journalists, and librarians. You can search the database by name, occupation, date of death, and cause of death. The data fields in the results returned may include full name, including married name, maiden name, and nickname; sex, occupation, death date, age, place of death, and information source.


 * Arcadia Bulletin - full-text digital issues in Google News Archive; covers 1940
 * Arcadia Daily Tribune - Google News Archive; 1930-1936
 * Arcadia Journal - Google News Archive; 1917-1931
 * Arcadia Tribune - Google News Archive; 1923-1936


 * Torrance Public Library: Historical Newspaper Archives (1913-1969)
 * Torrance Public Library: Historic City and Phone Directories (1922-1975)

Courtesy of the Whittier Public Library:


 * Whittier Daily News, Whittier Register, Whittier News: 1888-2007
 * Historical Photograph Collection: Images of the establishment of Whittier-late 1800s to mid-20th century

Obituaries
The Southern California Genealogical Society has created The Los Angeles Times Obituary Indexdatabase searchable by either first name, last name or a combination of the two. If the name is found, the index provides the year of the obituary. If a copy of the obituary is desired, then it is necessary to purchase it from the Society. Currently the Index covers the period 1988 to 2004.

Rose Hills Memorial Park has a searchable database with some online obituaries. [http://www.rosehills.com/dm20/en_US/main/rh/search/index.page? Burials:1914-present, Some Obituaries: 2011- present]

Archives, Libraries and Museums
Los Angeles FamilySearch Library 10741 Santa Monica Blvd West Los Angeles, CA 90025 Telephone: 310-474-9990 Hours: T-W-Th 9 am-9 pm; Mon-Fri-Sat 9 am-5 pm; Closed Sun

Southern California Genealogical Society and Family Research Library 417 Irving Dr. Burbank, CA ~ 91504 818-843-7247

Sons of the Revolution Library 600 South Central Avenue Glendale, California 91204-2009 Telephone: (818) 240-1775 Library and Museum Hours: Wednesdays Noon to 6:00 p.m. Thursday thru Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Closed Sunday through Tuesday, Saturdays before a Monday holiday, Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and the entire month of December.

County of Los Angeles Public Libraries is a system of local libraries with some microfilmed newspapers and city directories and biographies. They will search for obituaries (Click the link above for their search policy.) This system has four ethnic centers: The Black Resource Center, the Asian Pacific Resource Center, the Chicano Resource Center, and the American Indian Resource Center.

County Courthouse
County Courthouse Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration 500 W. Temple St. Los Angeles, CA 90012 (county seat)

Family History Centers
FamilySearch Centers are branches of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and are located all over the world. Their goal is to provide resources for family history research.


 * Agua Dulce California Family History Center
 * Burbank California Family History Center
 * Canoga Park California Family History Center
 * Cerritos California Family History Center
 * Covina California Family History Center
 * Glendale California Family History Center
 * Glendora California Family History Center
 * Granada Hills California Family History Center (Northridge)
 * Hacienda Heights California Family History Center
 * Huntington Park California West Family History Center (Los Angeles)
 * La Crescenta California Family History Center
 * Lake Los Angeles California Family History Center (Lancaster)
 * Lancaster California East Family History Center
 * Lancaster California Family History Center
 * Long Beach California East Family History Center (Los Alamitos)
 * Long Beach California Family History Center
 * Los Angeles California East Family History Center (Monterey Park)
 * Los Angeles California Large Multi-stake Family History Library
 * Los Angeles FamilySearch Library
 * Palmdale California Family History Center
 * Palos Verdes California Family History Center (Rancho Palos Verdes)
 * Pasadena California Family History Center
 * San Fernando California Family History Center (Van Nuys)
 * Sylmar California Family History Center
 * Torrance California Family History Center
 * Valencia California Family History Center
 * Whittier California Family History Center

Schools
Long Beach High School Yearbooks: 1900s-1950s: courtesy of the Long Beach Public Library

Societies

 * Southern California Genealogical Society and Family Research Library


 * 417 Irving Dr.
 * Burbank, CA 91504 818.843.7247


 * Questing Heirs Genealogical Society


 * P.O. Box 15102
 * Long Beach, CA 90815-0102


 * Whittier Area Genealogical Society


 * P.O. Box 4367
 * Whittier, California 90607-4367
 * Meetings at Masonic Lodge
 * 7604 Greenleaf Ave.
 * Whittier, CA


 * Immigrant Genealogical Society


 * 1310-B West Magnolia Boulevard
 * Burbank, California
 * P. O. Box 7369
 * Burbank, California 91510-7369
 * Telephone: 818.848.3122


 * Nordic Genealogical Society of Southern California


 * Meetings: 2nd Saturday Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov at 3 pm
 * Los Angeles Family History Library


 * Polish Genealogical Society of California


 * P.O. Box 307
 * Buena Park, CA 90621-0307
 * Meetings: Los Angeles Family History Library
 * 10471 Santa Monica Boulevard
 * Los Angeles, CA
 * Telephone: 310.474.9990

Vital Records
See also How to order California Vital Records

For early marriages see the Matrimonial Investigation Records of the San Gabriel Mission, which span 1788–1861. These are notarized interviews with couples wanting to marry in the Roman Catholic Church, performed to establish the couples’ freedom to marry. The collection includes 165 investigations, with 173 men and 170 women, primarily from the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel. William McPherson donated the original documents to the Claremont Colleges. Click here to see those images.

Some marriages are also on the Western States Marriage Index.

Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk (for Birth, Marriage and Death records going back at least to 1852) Norwalk RR/CC Building 12400 Imperial Highway Norwalk, CA. 90650 Office Hours: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm Monday through Friday (open 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. on the 3rd Thursday of every month)


 * Note: There are several other sites to get birth, marriage and death records in Los Angeles County but Norwalk is the only facility that you can view records personally.

Viewing Vital Records: The following will provide you with the procedure for viewing vital records. Certificates and indexes of birth, death and marriage records not exempt from public inspections may be examined at the Office of the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. In addition to certificates on file, there are indexes of birth, death and marriages available for public inspection as follows: Births prior to 1905 and from 1964 to the present; Deaths from 1877 to the present; and Marriages from 1852 to the present. Records of confidential marriages performed pursuant to Family Code Section 500 are not available for public review. Certificates and indexes may be examined at no charge unless a deputy is requested search and/or retrieve more than five records. Random searches of the indexes or the certificates are not allowed. An application is required for each record searched. Information sufficient to identify the requested record must be provided.

Los Angeles County Death Records at the Family History Library: are available through the Family History Library System. First, search the index film for the year the person died. Note that in 1958-1960, there are separate film sets for different cities in Los Angeles County, including Los Angeles, Pasadena, and Long Beach. Note that entries in the county wide index with certificate numbers preceded by an "L" pertain to the.

The California Death Records 1940-1997 can be searched for free on Rootsweb. California Death Records

Voting Records
California county clerks were to keep voting registers every other year from 1866 and well into the 20th century. These large books, called Great Registers, listed the men who registered to vote in that county. Besides name and age, the record may show place of birth, address, occupation, naturalization date and sometimes even a physical description.

These records are at the California State Library (1866-1944), and microfilmed copies are available through Family History Centers (1866-1910). Ancestry ($) has a searchable database of Los Angeles Great Registers from 1873-1896.

Genealogy Societies, Archives and Libraries

 * List of California Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies

Web Sites

 * Los Angeles County, CA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * California Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * California Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Los Angeles County CAGenWeb
 * Linkpendium
 * USGenWeb Archives
 * USGenWeb Archives backup site
 * Los Angeles County Genealogy (California Genealogy)
 * Online Los Angeles Death Records and Indexes