Missouri State Archives

United States Missouri  Cole  Archives and Libraries  

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Contact Information
E-mail: [mailto:archref@sos.mo.gov archref@sos.mo.gov]

Address:


 * 600 West Main Street P.O. Box 1747 Jefferson City, MO 65102

Telephone: 573-751-3280 Fax:  573-526-5327

Hours and holidays:


 * Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 8-5
 * Thursday: 8-8
 * Saturday: 9-3
 * Missouri holidays

Directions, map, parking, and public transportation:


 * Driving directions:  The Missouri State Archives is part of the State Capitol complex and is located in the James C. Kirkpatrick State Information Center. The Archives is two blocks northwest of the State Capitol on West Main Street.
 * Google map:  Missouri State Archives
 * Parking:  Visitor parking is available at no charge in close vicinity to the building. Handicap parking is immediately in front of the building.
 * Public transportation:  The JeffTran bus High Street West Route has a stop a block and a half from the Missouri State Archives.

Internet sites and databases:


 * Missouri State Archives research, hours and directions, contact, MSA-St. Louis, volunteers, MO history, education, and exhibits.
 * Archives Online Catalog Search by titles, authors, subjects, notes, or "anything."
 * Research Room record types, featured collections, guides, online resources, access, research, and copy fees.
 * Genealogy and Local History Index references to personal and corporate names (primarily St. Louisans and St. Louis businesses) in selected library, archives, and photograph collections.
 * Missouri Births and Deaths Database pre-1910
 * Missouri Death Certificates 1910-1964
 * Soldiers' Records: War of 1812 - World War I
 * Missouri State Penitentiary Database 1836-1931
 * Missouri County History Project 115 volume digital library

Collection Description
A "user-friendly" facility with original county records on microfilm from all counties (61,000 reels), municipal records, 400,000 photos, 9000 maps, censuses 1752-1940, court, land, military, Missouri Mormon War, and penitentiary records. Additional databases include births/deaths pre-1910, coroners inquests, land patents 1831-1969, and naturalizations 1816-1955. Copies of records can also be ordered online.

Vital records collections vary by county. For example, the Missouri State Archives has the Jackson County birth and death records since 1883 in an online index; Jackson County birth records 1883-1895; and Jackson County marriages 1827-1937.

Guides

 * Missouri State Archives, A Guide to the County and Municipal Records on Microfilm (Jefferson City, MO: MSA, [1997]). ..
 * Guide to African American History
 * Guide to Civil War Resources at the Missouri State Archives
 * Finding Aids governors, officials, commissions, committees, courts, land, and manuscript collections.

Tip
Patrons must read and comply with the Patron Resource Agreement before beginning research activity.

Alternate Repositories
If you cannot visit or find a source at the , a similar source may be available at one of the following.

Overlapping Collections


 * Mid-Continent Public Library Midwest Genealogy Center, Independence, a great American genealogy collection: censuses, MO federal land sales, penitentiary, St. Louis fur trade, Civil War, passenger lists, plantations, American Indians, city directories, newspapers, Draper Manuscripts, and KY taxes.
 * National Archives at Kansas City federal censuses 1790–1930; selected military service indexes, pension indexes, passenger lists, naturalizations, photos, adoptions, vital records, land, and Indian records.

Similar Collections


 * Missouri History Museum Library, St. Louis, has regional history sources, St. Louis, Missouri, the Mississippi and Missouri Valleys, the Louisiana Purchase, American West: indexes, guides, catalogs, photos, genealogy workshops. Many records of Missouri settlers from Illinois.
 * St. Louis County Library, a Missouri collection including the National Genealogical Society, and St. Louis Genealogical Society collections, online databases, federal censuses, births, deaths, cemeteries, church records, military records, naturalizations, newspapers, wills, African American records, yearbooks, and access to LDS microfilms.

Neighboring Collections


 * Cole County Health Department, Jefferson City, births since 1920, and deaths since 1980.
 * Cole County Clerk of the Circuit Court, Jefferson City, divorce, and court records from 1821, and probate records from 1834.
 * Cole County Recorder of Deeds, Jefferson City, has marriage and land records from 1821 ; births and deaths 1883-1906, and military discharges.
 * Cole County Medical Examiner, Jefferson City, suspicious deaths.
 * U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri, Jefferson City, recent federal civil, criminal, and bankruptcy court records.
 * Cole County Historical Society, Jefferson City, society, displays, photos, cultural displays, from the past, what's new.
 * Missouri River Regional Library, Jefferson City, has Ancestry.com and Heritage Quest Online.
 * Jefferson City Missouri Family History Center can offer research suggestions, and can order genealogical microfilms from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
 * Missouri Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Jefferson City, birth, marriage, divorce, and death certificates.
 * Repositories in surrounding counties: Boone, Callaway, Miller, Moniteau, and Osage.
 * Kansas City Public Library Missouri Valley Special Collections, The Missouri Valley Room has a great genealogy collection for Missouri and Kansas with biographies, periodicals, genealogies, diaries, photos, scrapbooks, and newspapers of the Kansas City area.
 * Missouri State Genealogical Association has donated their books the the Midwest Genealogy Center.
 * National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), St. Louis, federal government employee and military personnel records starting 1917.
 * St. Louis Mercantile Library, early newspapers, railroads, inland waterways, county records, biographies, and genealogies. A premier library for Missouri research.
 * St. Louis Public Library has an Obituary Index for the years 1880–1927; 1942–1945; 1992–2006, family histories, passenger lists, Heritage Quest, and Gateway Family Historian publication.
 * State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia, census, maps, newspapers, online tools, oral history, photos, historical manuscripts, and reference materials.
 * Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis Office of Archives and Records parish christenings, confirmations, marriages, and deaths.
 * Community of Christ Library and Archives, Independence, books, periodicals, letters, and diaries of the of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints/Community of Christ.
 * Concordia Historical Institute, St. Louis, Department of Archives and History of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
 * Episcopal Diocese of Missouri Archives, St. Louis, a library, extensive document and photograph collections, and parish registers.
 * Missouri United Methodist Archives, Fayette, historical materials on Methodism in Missouri emphasizing ministers.
 * Repositories in surrounding states: Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.
 * Allen County Public Library, Ft. Wayne IN, has a premier genealogical periodical collection, genealogies, local histories, databases, military, censuses, directories, passenger lists, American Indians, African Americans, Canadians.
 * Dallas Public Central Library, outstanding genealogical collection with records for more than Texas, including Missouri, Oklahoma, the South, Mid-Atlantic, and New England states.
 * Newberry Library, a large Chicago repository with genealogies, local histories, censuses, military, land, indexes, vital records, court, and tax records mostly from the Mississippi Valley, eastern seaboard, Canada, and British Isles.