User:RogersBA/Sandbox TX 84

Guide to Galveston County, Texas ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Description
The county was named for the City of Galveston. The County is located in the south-central area of the state.

County Courthouse
Galveston County Courthouse 600 59th St Galveston, TX 77551 Phone: 409-766-2424 Galveston County Courthouse County Clerk has birth and death records, clerk has birth and death records 1903 -1910 and 1941-1951, marriage, probate and land records from 1838 and court records from 1875.

Populated Places
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog



For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

History Timeline
Galveston is a very low-lying area in Texas, the county seat being largely on an island, and thus it is vulnerable to weather disasters, mainly being hurricanes, and occasionally, tornadoes.

Therefore, unless the record or a duplicate copy or other item that recorded the same data was moved to an inland area prior to September 1900, it is likely the record was destroyed in the hurricane. One should check in nearby counties for any such replications of any records from the Galveston area prior to 1900, such as neighboring counties, regional offices of churches, and other similar repositories, for records from this county. Galveston county courthouse records were spared from destruction as they were kept in a vault that did survive.

Since 1900, a seawall was built along the outward facing shore, and subsequent hurricanes, including Ike in 2008, did somewhat less damage as the seawall for the most part has kept the storm surge produced by any hurricane from over-washing the island by and large. In fact, one can drive along the seawall itself which will give any visitor an idea of just how serious the 1900 disaster really was.

Census Records

 * 1850 Federal Census at USGenWeb Archives Project
 * 1900 Federal Census at USGenWeb Archives Project
 * 1850-1930 USGenWeb Census Project Texas


 * See also Using the Census to find other records about ancestors

Church Records

 * Texas Christian Church Directoryat ChurchAngel
 * Catholic Parishes in Texas

 Lutheran
 * 1781-1969 U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969 at Ancestry — index & images, ($)
 * Records of the American Lutheran Church, Galveston County, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($)

 List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Directories

 * 1906 Galveston, Texas, City Directory, 1906 at MyHeritage — index & images ($)

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups
 African Americans
 * 1865-1870 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Images only
 * African American Griots at USGenWeb
 * AfriGeneas American Ancestored Genealogy; select Records then a collection
 * Texas African American Genealogy at Access Genealogy

Land and Property Records

 * Original Land Owners Of Texas - Galveston County - TXGenWeb
 * Lot and Block Book of Texas City, Galveston County, 1902-1911 showing names of property owners, dimensions, lot numbers, block numbers, and street number of each block. Read the book online at the Portal to Texas History

Local Histories
Galveston Island was the temporary seat of government of the Republic of Texas during the Texas Revolution.


 * The Early History of Galveston, 1916, by Joseph O. Dyer. Read the book online at archive.org. Read the book online at The Portal to Texas History.
 * The Port of Galveston and the State of Texas, 1890, by Andrew Morrison. Read the book online at archive.org.
 * The Complete Story of the Galveston Horror, c1900 by John Coulter. Read the book online at archive.org.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Texas Counties Map Click on the county to go to the Texas TXGenWeb site.
 * FamilySearch Places Map of cities and towns in this county How to Use FS Places

Military Records
 Texas Revolution 
 * 1835 - 1845 Index to the Military Rolls of the Republic of Texas 1835-1845 at Texas State Historical Association
 * 1838-1900 Texas Muster Roll Index Cards at Ancestry — index and images ($)

 Mexican-American War
 * 1845-1848 US American Volunteer Soldiers Mexican War at Ancestry — index ($)

 Civil War
 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images at partner site
 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images at partner site
 * Confederate Pension Applications at Texas State Library and Archives Commission
 * Confederate Indigent Families at USGenWeb Archives Project
 * 1864 Muster List, Easley's at USGenWeb Archives Project

 Civil War Battles The following Civil War battles were fought in Galveston County.
 * October 4, 1862 - Galveston I
 * January 1, 1863 - Galveston II
 * Battles of the American Civil War maps - filter by state or by battle name.

 World War I
 * 1917-1920 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images

Newspapers

 * w3newspapers-Texas Newspaper Index with links
 * Newslink-Texas Newspaper List (sorted by publication frequency)
 * The Olden Times - Historic Texas News Online
 * Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line. Their database has Galveston newspapers from the early 1800s that covered local news on Galveston County residents as well as residents from surrounding counties.
 * Texas Digital Newspaper Program at The Portal to Texas History

Obituaries

 * Galveston County Obituaries - TXGenWeb
 * USGenWeb Archives Obituary Project - Texas
 * Obituary Daily Times - Citations to over 15,000,000 obituaries at Ancestry

Probate Records

 * 1800-1990 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Images only
 * 1800-2000 Texas Wills and Probate Records at Ancestry.com — index and images ($)
 * Search Tax, Criminal, Land and Wills Records at Ancestry ($)

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry — index, ($) click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Tax Records

 * 1846-1910 Texas, County Tax Rolls 1846-1910 at Findmypast — index and images ($)

Birth

 * 1903-1935 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1903-1997 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index
 * 1926-1995 Texas Births, 1926 - 1995 at MyHeritage — index ($)

Marriage

 * 1802-2010 Texas, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index ($)
 * 1814-1909 and 1966-2011 Texas Marriage Collection at Ancestry — index ($)
 * 1837-1965 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1837-1973 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index
 * 1837-1977 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1837-1977 Texas Select County Marriage Index at Ancestry — index ($)
 * 1966-2010 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index
 * 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage — index ($)

Death

 * 1890-1976 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1903-1973 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index
 * 1903-1982 Texas Death Certificates at Ancestry — index and images ($)
 * 1903-2000 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index
 * 1964-1998 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index
 * 1977-1986 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images

Divorce

 * 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage — index ($)
 * 1968-2010 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index
 * 1968-2011 Texas Divorces at Ancestry — index ($)

FamilySearch Centers

 * Alvin Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Friendswood Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Galveston Texas FamilySearch Center
 * League City Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Pasadena Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Lawrence County Public Library - an affiliate library
 * Rosenberg Library - an affiliate library

Libraries
Dickinson Public Library 1837 Hwy 517 E Dickinson, TX 77539 Phone: 281-534-3812 Website

Friendswood Public Library 416 S Friendswood Dr Friendswood, TX 77546 Phone: 281-482-7135 Website

Genevieve Miller Hitchcock Public Library 8005 Barry Ave Hitchcock, TX 77563 Phone: 409-986-7814 Website

Helen Hall Library 100 W Walker St League City, TX 77573 Phone: 281-554-1111 Website

La Marque Public Library 1011 Bayou Rd La Marque, TX 77568 Phone: 409-938-9270 Website

Mae S Bruce Library 13302 6th St Santa Fe, TX 77510 Phone: 409-925-5540 Website

Moore Memorial Public Library 1701 9th Ave N Texas City, TX 77590 Phone: 409-643-5970 Website

Rosenberg Library 2310 Sealy Ave Galveston, TX 77550 Phone: 409-763-8854 Website

Societies
Galveston County Genealogical Society PO Box 1141 Galveston 77550 Website

Websites

 * Galveston TX GenWeb part of TXGenWeb
 * Galveston USGWArchives part of USGWArchives Texas Counties
 * Frontier Times Magazine
 * Historic Texas
 * - The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.