Mesa Arizona FamilySearch Library

The Mesa Family History Center is also known as both the Mesa Regional Family History Center and the Mesa Arizona Large Multistake Center serves 54 Stakes in the Phoenix/Mesa Metroplex. The Center has 180 Missionaries trained to help more than 50,000 patrons who visit the Center each year.


 * Website: mesarfhc.org The website is also available in Spanish



Location and Contact Information
41 South Hobson Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United States Phone: 480-964-1200 Email Address: [mailto:admin@mesarfhc.org admin@mesarfhc.org]

The building is located on the east side of Hobson, just south of Main Street and east of the Temple.

The Mesa Regional Family History Center also uses a building for training purposes located at: 464 E. 1st Avenue, Mesa, Arizona

Map showing Mesa Regional Family History Center

Hours of Operation and 2011 Calendar

 * View the updated Calendar and Hours of Operation

Schedule of Classes
Classes are free although some classes may have a nominal charge for elective materials.

Classes are held daily and taught by volunteers and missionaries at the Center. The Center uses class rooms both in the main building at 41 South Hobson and also at the Training Center which is located at 464 E. 1st Avenue, just west of the Temple.

There are two schedules of classes, one for the Main building and one for the Training Center. The Class Schedules are updated regularly and are on the main Mesa Regional Family History Website.


 * Class Schedules

General Resources

 * 129 computers and 14 film/fiche readers
 * Free access to subscription based Internet web sites, Including FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com, Footnote, HeritageQuest, AmericanAncestors.org (formerly New England Historic Genealogical Society), World Vital Records, Godfrey Memorial Library and many other sites.
 * Pedigree Resource File CD's
 * Over 700 Commercial CD's with genealogical research data.
 * Over 30,000 Books, including many digital books. Index of the Digital Books
 * Over 81,000 rolls of microfilm and 52,000 microfiche. Additional films and fiche may be rented from the Family History Library.
 * Copiers and printers are available.
 * Genealogy software programs, forms, research outlines, word lists, etc., available at cost in our Copy Room.
 * Free Classes and Workshops --- Over 90 classes and workshops scheduled each month.
 * Research Specialty Committees.
 * Workshops -- with 28 computers at the Family History Training Center, 464 E. 1st Avenue for hands-on-training. See current class topics being taught below.

Library Catalog
The books and other resources of the Mesa Family History Center can be searched through the library catalog.


 * Library Catalog search page

You can also search for microfilm and microfiche by number to see if the Center has any particular microfilm or microfiche. The numbers for searching must be obtained from the Family History Library Catalog. Please see the Introduction to the Family History Library Catalog


 * Film/Fiche Search

Unique Resources
The Mesa Family History Center has maintained several online resources of a local nature. These resources include the following:


 * Mesa Regional Family History Center Arizona Obituary Search: The Arizona Obituary Search allows you to search through a partial listing of obituaries published in Arizona newspapers. This is an index only. For original obituaries, go to the indicated newspaper. The City of Mesa Public Library also maintains a microfilm copy of the Arizona Republic Newspaper and charges $15.00 per obituary search request. The City of Mesa Public Library perform obituary searches only for persons whose obituary appeared in the Arizona Republic newspaper. An index to obituaries from 1997 appearing in the East Valley Tribune is available online. Microfilm copies of the East Valley Tribune and it's predecessor newspapers for most years back to 1893 are available only at the Mesa Public Library Main Library.
 * Interment search in the Mesa City Cemetery. This resource is a listing of most of the burials in the Mesa City Cemetery in the form of a searchable index.

Digital Books
The Mesa Family History Center has an extensive collection of digitized books online. Including some books not available anywhere else. These books are mostly listed in the regular catalog with a link to the individual books, but there is also an index.


 * Index of digital books.

What We Do

 * Provide Research Help. We do not perform the research for patrons, but we answer questions and suggest possible sources. Come to our reference desk.
 * Provide Training. See the schedule of classes listed above.
 * Conduct Tours. Tours of the center are available during our regular hours for groups of all ages. Call ahead to reserve a time for Youth Tours and discuss the goals of the tour. Call after 3:00 pm for tours scheduled between 3:00 pm - 8:00 pm. Take a photo tour on line in English and Spanish any time.
 * Assist in cleaning up data files.
 * Provide Service Opportunities for missionaries and volunteers. (Call 480-964-1200)

Research and Geographic Committees
The missionaries and volunteers at the Mesa Regional Family History Center are organized into committees by research interests and geographical areas. Each of the committees has a basic introduction to its area of expertise called a Quick Start. Quick Starts are short statements about how to start doing research on a particular subject or in a particular geographic area.

Below are each of the committee's mission statements and links to its QuickStarts.

Land/Probate
The committee teaches research techniques for finding land and probate records in both federal and state jurisdictions. These records often contain detailed family relationship information.


 * Land Records: Individuals to Individuals Quick Start
 * Land Records: State-Land States to Individuals
 * Land from Federal Government to Individual
 * Probate Records Quick Start

LDS Records
The LDS Records Committee assists patrons in finding their LDS ancestors. Many records are available from the early days of the LDS Church to the present day. Some of these records include membership records, LDS passenger immigration lists, pioneer journals, travel logs of handcart and wagon trains, Bishop’s reports, histories, newspapers, cemetery and burial records. The Quick Start will direct patrons to many useful sources.


 * LDS Records Quick Start

British Isles
The British Isles committee helps and assists patrons research their ancestors in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Assistance may include searching the three major research sources for these countries, which are Census Records, Civil Registration and Church Records. Information that can be found in these records are; parents name, children, age, occupation, birth, marriage, death, burial and immigration dates. For additional help, please select the Quick Start below that applies to the area you are researching.


 * England &amp; Wales Quick Start
 * Ireland Quick Start
 * Scotland Quick Start

German

 * German Research Quick Start

Military
All of the Military Quick Starts link to a PDF file directly from the Quick Start link page on the Mesa Regional Family History Center Website. Please go to the link page by clicking on one of the entries below:


 * Revolutionary War
 * Civil War
 * Pre-20th Century Wars
 * 20th Century Wars

Native American, African American, Hawaiian
The Native American Committee assists patrons to find Native American records and the history of their ancestors. We also help the African American patrons to make the connection with the Native Americans. We also have resources to help with Polynesian records and those resources found in Hawaii. We meet the 2nd Monday of the month at 9:30 am.


 * African American Quick Start
 * Native American Quick Start
 * Hawaiian Quick Start

Canadian

 * Canada Quick Start
 * Ontario Quick Start
 * Quebec Quick Start

Hispanic
The Hispanic Committee is concerned with all aspects of Hispanic research. The Mesa Regional Family History Center has over 2000 rolls of microfilm relating to Latin American records and many other resources. The committee members provide support for patrons doing research in the Spanish language.


 * Hispanic Training

To view the information in Spanish:


 * Capacitación in Español

Immigration/Emigration
Our committee helps direct patrons in their search to find records and information on their US immigrant. Since many researchers are trying to find the country of origin - assistance may include help in finding; naturalization records, passenger lists, border crossings, US passport applications, US census records, etc. Any of these records may include an immigrant’s name, age, occupation, destination, and sometimes the place of origin or birth. Researching an ancestor before 1820 is vastly different than after 1820, when passenger arrival records began. Please select the QuickStart for the appropriate time frame you are researching.


 * Immigration Before 1820 Quick Start
 * Immigration After 1820 Quick Start

Netherlands

 * Netherlands Quick Start

Scandinavian
The Scandinavian Committee helps and assists patrons, missionaries, and volunteers to identify and find their Scandinavian ancestors, primarily in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Norway. Our purpose is to be a resource for patrons, missionaries, and volunteers. We update our skills continually to be able to assist and educate others in the use of the resources available here at the Mesa Regional Family History Center to help them in their genealogical research. The expertise we offer includes many quick starts that explain how to read the different languages, interpret Census records, birth dates, christening dates, death dates, and other pertinent information to the seeker of genealogy records of Scandinavia. You may select from the multiple quick starts below to get started.


 * Denmark Quick Start
 * Norway Quick Start
 * Sweden and Finland Quick Start
 * Scandinavia Quick Start
 * Books for Scandinavian Research
 * Other Tools for Scandinavian Research
 * How to Use the Danish National Archives
 * Notes on Dansk Demografisk Database
 * Notes on Using DIS-Denmark, a Danish Genealogical Resource
 * Landsarkivet
 * Notes on Norway.no and Norge.no for Maps of Counties and Communes
 * How to Use Norway National Archives

Eastern European

 * Eastern European Quick Start
 * Eastern European Map and List of Countries

Other Resources

 * Family History Research Training and Class Schedule
 * Mesa Regional Family History Center Volunteer's Page

Links
See the Regional Family History Centers for information on all of the regional centers. More information on Mesa, Arizona