Georgia Archives and Libraries

United States Georgia  Archives and Libraries

These repositories preserve sources, maintain indexes, and provide services to help genealogists document their ancestors who lived in Georgia.

Wiki Articles on Major Repositories in Georgia
Georgia Archives· Georgia Historical Society· Georgia Genealogical Society· Athens-Clarke County Library Heritage Room· Atlanta History Center· Atlanta-Fulton Public Library Central Library· Coweta County Genealogical Society Research Library· DeKalb History Center· Ellen Payne Odom Genealogy Library· Georgia Salzburger Society· Gilbert H. Gragg Library· Huxford-Spear Genealogical Library· Ladson Genealogical Library· Thomasville Genealogical, History and Fine Arts Library· University of Georgia Main Library· Washington Memorial Library·National Archives at Atlanta· Dallas Public Central Library

Statewide Repositories
Georgia Archives 5800 Jonesboro Road Morrow, GA 30260 Telephone: 678 364-3710 Fax: 678-364-3860 E-mail: Ask an Archivist form Internet: Georgia Archives


 * Holdings include state government records, county records, and Georgia histories. This is the best place to start family history research in Georgia. They preserve genealogies, county histories, newspapers, tax digests, private papers, church records, cemeteries, Bible records, a few municipal records, census, maps, land plats, photographs, Georgia Confederate service and pension records, colonial, headright, and bounty land grants, land lottery, and Georgia county records.


 * Georgia's Virtual Vault provides virtual access to historic Georgia manuscripts, photographs, maps, and government records housed in the state archives. It includes Colonial will books, Confederate pension applications, County maps, County tax digests, Georgia death certificates, headright and bounty plats, marriage records, Spanish-American War service summary cards and more.


 * Two helpful guides to the collection are:


 * Georgia Department of Archives and History. A Preliminary Guide to Eighteenth-Century Records Held by the Georgia Department of Archives and History (Atlanta, Ga.: GDAH, 1976)..
 * Robert Scott Davis Jr. Research in Georgia (Easley, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1981)..

Georgia Historical Society 501 Whitaker Street Savannah, GA 31401 Telephone: 912-651-2128 Fax: 912-651-2831 E-mail: [mailto:ghslib@georgiahistory.com ghslib@georgiahistory.com] Internet: About the Research Center


 * They have almost as many genealogical sources as the Georgia Archives.

Georgia Genealogical Society P.O. Box 550247 Atlanta, GA 30355-2747 E-mail: Contact form Internet: Georgia Genealogical Society


 * They provide research advice, but have no library collection or building of their own.

Regional Repositories
Athens-Clarke County Library Heritage Room 2025 Baxter Street Athens,GA 30606 Telephone: 706-613-3650 ext 350 E-mail: [mailto:heritageroomref@athenslibrary.org heritageroomref@athenslibrary.org] Internet: Heritage Room


 * This book, map, microfilm and archival collection spans the southeastern United States and up the East Coast, with limited holdings pertaining to New England. Local history holdings include vertical files, surname files and newspapers.

Atlanta History Center 130 West Paces Ferry Road NW Atlanta, GA 30305 Telephone: 404-814-4000 E-mail: Contact Us form Internet: Atlanta History Center


 * Sources for studying Atlanta and southern regional history and culture. The 42,000 square foot library possesses over 15,000 cubic feet of records, including 33,000 published volumes, more than 2,000 manuscript and photograph collections, and 7,800 rolls of microfilm.

Atlanta-Fulton Public Library Central Library Special Collections One Margaret Mitchell Square Atlanta, GA 30303 Telephone: 404-730-1896 E-mail: [mailto:referenceline@fultoncountyga.gov referenceline@fultoncountyga.gov] Internet: Special Collections


 * Their Historic Georgia, and Genealogy collections are large with good coverage of the Southeast United States. They have county histories, family histories, limited indexes to wills, deeds, military rosters, passenger lists, and Atlanta city directories, Georgia censuses 1820-1930, local histories, and Georgia newspapers.

Coweta County Genealogical Society Research Library 8 Carmichael Street Newnan, Georgia Telephone: 470-215-1966 E-mail: [mailto:info@ccgsinc.org info@ccgsinc.org] Internet: Research Library


 * Holdings include the best set of family folders in Georgia.

DeKalb History Center Old Courthouse on the Square 101 East Court Square Decatur, GA 30030 Telephone: 404-373-1088 Fax: 404-373-8287 E-mail: [mailto:info@dekalbhistory.org info@dekalbhistory.org] Internet: DeKalb History Center


 * Subject files, biographical files, DeKalb County cemetery index, maps, manuscripts, photographs, rare books, DeKalb County collection such as memoirs, yearbooks, and Atlanta City and suburban directories.

Ellen Payne Odom Genealogy Library Moultrie-Colquitt County Library 204 5th Street, S.E. Moultrie, Georgia 31768 USA Telephone: 229-985-6540 E-mail: [mailto:mccls@mccls.org mccls@mccls.org] Internet: Ellen Payne Odom Genealogy Library


 * Emphasizes Scottish immigrants to America, but also has a good basic American genealogy collection.

Georgia Salzburger Society Loest Research Library 2980 Ebenezer Road Georgia Highway 275 Rincon, Georgia 31326 Telephone: 912-754-7001 E-mail: [mailto:gaslzbrgr@aol.com gaslzbrgr@aol.com] Internet: Genealogy


 * Histories, journals, genealogical records, and church histories.

Gilbert H. Gragg Library a Southwest Georgia Regional Library 301 S. Monroe Street Bainbridge, Georgia 39819 Telephone: 229-248-2665 Fax: 229-248-2670 E-mail: [mailto:librarian@swgrl.org librarian@swgrl.org] Internet: Gilbert H. Gragg Library


 * They have very good book, surname folder, genealogy, newspaper, and oral history collections.

Huxford-Spear Genealogical Library Street address: 20 S. College St. Mailing address: P.O. Box 595 Homerville, GA 31634 Telephone: 912-487-2310 E-mail: [mailto:huxford.spearlibrary@windstream.net huxford.spearlibrary@windstream.net] Internet:Huxford Genealogical Society, Inc.


 * This collection covers the southeast United States well, including 14,000 files on families from south Georgia and north Florida.

Ladson Genealogical Library Ohoopee Regional Library System 125 Church Street, Suite 104 Vidalia, GA 30474 Telephone: 912-537-8186 E-mail: [mailto:fennelld@ohoopeelibrary.org fennelld@ohoopeelibrary.org] Debra Fennell, Heritage Librarian Internet: Ladson Genealogical Library


 * This is primarily a book collection, but their genealogical sources cover the entire Atlantic seaboard. Also has historic photos and school records of Toombs and Montgomery counties.

Middle Georgia Genealogy and Archives Located in the Washington Memorial Library 1180 Washington Avenue Macon, GA 31201-1790 Telephone: 478-744-0821 E-mail: [mailto:mgrlgh@bibblib.org mgrlgh@bibblib.org] Internet: Genealogical Historical Room


 * The Genealogical and Historical Room has one of the most outstanding reference collections of its type in the South. It was founded in 1923 by the Mary Hammond Washington Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, who realized the need for the library to provide source material and assistance for people tracing their lineage and searching for facts about their ancestors. They also believed that certain old and irreplaceable records of local and regional history should be preserved for the future and made available for researchers. Starting with a small but valuable collection given by the James Hyde Porter family and housed in part of a small room, the Genealogical and Historical Room has grown to include more than 32,000 volumes and over 24,000 microforms. Located on the ground floor of the Washington Memorial Library, it is considered outstanding by genealogists and historians from all over the United States. Last year, over 13,000 researchers came from 38 states and 5 foreign countries to use the facilities.

Thomasville Genealogical, History and Fine Arts Library 135 North Broad Street Thomasville, Georgia 31792 USA Telephone: 229-226-9640 Fax: 229-226-3199 E-mail: [mailto:glibrary@rose.net glibrary@rose.net] Internet: The Thomasville Genealogical, History Fine Arts Library


 * Good collection of southern states family history material such as immigration records, marriages and deaths, Internet access, censuses, and state and county histories. Thomas County records include probate, marriage, land, Confederate pensions, Revolutionary War pension applications, newspapers, the Hopkins Collection, and African American obituaries.

University of Georgia Main Library 320 S. Jackson Street Athens, GA 30602-1641 Telephone: 706-542-3251 E-mail: Ask a question form Internet: UGA Libraries


 * They have the largest collection in the state of manuscripts about early Georgia settlers. Also, they hold county histories, county records, family records, biographies and newspapers.

Washington Memorial Library a Middle Georgia Regional Library Genealogical &amp; Historical Room 1180 Washington Avenue Macon, GA 31201-1790 Telephone: 478-744-0821 E-mail: [mailto:mgrlgh@bibblib.org mgrlgh@bibblib.org] Internet: Genealogical Historical Room


 * One of the best collections in Georgia for genealogy, African Americans, and local history. 32,000 volumes, 24,000 microfilms with an emphasis on the 13 American colonies, the American Revolutionary War, England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.

For Further Reading

 * Ellen Garrison, ed., Archives in Appalachia: A Directory (Boone, North Carolina: Appalachian Consortium Press, 1985). ; . This work covers the states of Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The record is arranged alphabetically by state, then by the name of the repository. Each entry lists the archive, its address, phone number, inclusive dates of the collection, the records of the collection, what subjects are covered by the collection, and the size of the collection.

Websites

 * Archives Portal Europe provides access to information on archival material from Georgia as well as information on archival institutions throughout the European continent.