San Francisco County, California Genealogy

United States California  San Francisco County

Parent County
18 February 1850: San Francisco County was created as an original county. County seat: San Francisco

Record Loss
1906: Courthouse burned and many records were damaged in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. For further information on researching in burned counties, see the following:


 * Burned Counties Research


 * Blogs Ancestry.com

Neighboring Counties

 * Alameda


 * Marin


 * San Mateo

Cemeteries
San Francisco California Area Funeral Home Records: A free internet index and images to the California, San Francisco Funeral Home Records can be viewed on the FamilySearch Historical Record Collections website. For a description of the collection see San Francisco California Area Funeral Home Records.

A wiki article describing this collection is found at: 

San Francisco California Area Funeral Home Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Federal
1850 (1851) for the county is missing.

City Directories
Fold3.com ($) has San Francisco City Directories 1861-1923 (4 yrs. missing) available online. This database is sometimes free at libraries.

LDS Ward and Branch Records

 * Balboa


 * Mission


 * San Francisco


 * Sunset (San Francisco)

Disasters
Earthquake

Emigration and Immigration

 * Angel Island Immigration Station – This site gives the history of the landmark near San Francisco known as the “Ellis Island of the West”. When Angel Island was opened in 1910, it was expected to handle European immigrants headed for California via the Panama Canal. Instead, the facility handled about 250,000 immigrants from Asia, 70 percent of whom were Chinese. While records aren’t searchable here, you will get a good insight into what those who were detained at Angel Island went through to enter the United States. Site provides links to sources that are available for researching ancestors.

A wiki article describing this collection is found at:

California, San Francisco Passenger Lists (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Land and Property
The Family History Library has copies of original pre-statehood records for San Francisco, 1838 to 1851, on 21 films. These include Spanish grants and early Alcalde deeds. The original records are at the San Francisco County Courthouse. After the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, a law was passed to establish the ownership of land. A claimant filed the proper papers with the superior court, which, if approved, gave him title to the land. These claims are called the McInerney actions. The original records are at the San Francisco County Courthouse. The Family History Library has copies of these claims for the years 1906 to 1984 on 880 microfilm rolls. They are indexed by the name of the plaintiff (claimant).

Maps
For historical maps,search the following free sites:


 * Maps-Historical-State of California, the California government's site. Links to American Memory (Library of Congress), California Missions, and the State Library


 * Historical Maps of California


 * California Maps - HSU Library, also lists and links to gazetteers


 * David Rumsey Collection for San Francisco, California


 * California Perry-Castaneda Map Collection


 * USGS Topographic Maps of California topographical maps of California mountains, rivers, etc., try the sites listed at

Military History and Records
Civil War

Despite the destruction of the 1890 Federal Census, a few 1890 Census Veterans Schedules for Alcatraz in San Francisco County survived. They are available on roll 118 of "Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census (1890) Enumerating Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War" (NARA M123). The schedules list veterans and their widows who served as Union soldiers in the Civil War. For more information on the 1890 Veterans Schedules see Union Census Records.

Vital Records
The San Francisco Department of Public Health has birth and death records since April 1906. You can obtain an informational copy for a fee by mailing the application (Birth Application, Death Application) with your payment and a self-addressed stamped envelope. As with other California counties, you only need to get the form notarized if you want a certified copy. Informational copies do not need a notary. Mail the application to: San Francisco Public Health Department Office of Vital Records 101 Grove St., Room 105 San Francisco, CA 94102

San Francisco Funeral Home Records

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * San Francisco Golden Gate California Family History Center
 * San Francisco, California

Websites

 * San Francisco Genealogy (sfgenealogy)


 * Golden Nugget Library


 * San Francisco County CAGenWeb


 * Linkpendium


 * USGenWeb Archives


 * USGenWeb Archives backup site


 * San Francisco County Genealogy (California Genealogy)

A wiki article describing this collection is found at: 


 * California, Genealogical Collections at the California Genealogical Society (FamilySearch Historical Records)