Bull Run Regional Library

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Contact Information
Email: [mailto:relic2@pwcgov.org relic2@pwcgov.org]

Website: http://www.pwcgov.org/government/dept/library/Pages/relic.aspx

Facebook: Address: 8601 Mathis Avenue, Manassas, VA 20110-5270 Telephone:  703-792-8360 Hours of Operation:

While access to the RELIC collection is available whenever Central Library is open, there may not always be a RELIC staff member available to help. If you require individual assistance and/or are traveling from a distance, you may wish to call 703-792-8380 and/or email us to verify the hours when RELIC staff will be available.

Current staffed hours for RELIC. 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Monday - Wednesday: 10:00 a.m. –  8:00 p.m.

Thursday - Saturday:  10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Sunday: Closed

Closed Federal holidays and holiday weekends.

Directions/Parking Map:

Description of Collections
The Ruth E. Lloyd Information Center (RELIC) is a special collection devoted to genealogy and local history with a focus on Virginia and Prince William County. Located at Central Library, it is open and staffed the same hours as the rest of the Library. The staff are trained to help customers locate information needed to trace their family history and to research persons, places and events associated with local history. The American Revolution and the Civil War as they relate to Virginia are of special interest.

RELIC houses a wide variety of materials related to its mission, including published and manuscript materials, indexes and research guides, photographs, maps, microforms, and computer (CD-ROM) databases.

Staff maintain ties with local historical and genealogical societies and with other libraries and agencies with common interests, such as the National Archives, the FamilySearch Library, and other related organizations.

The collection was founded in 1971 (as the Virginiana Room, also known as the Ruth E. Lloyd History Room) at the Central Community Library in Manassas. The collection was located at Bull Run Regional Library from 1994 to 2020. It reopened at Central Library in a remodeled space in November 2020.

Services
RELIC offers a variety of historical research materials and services. Staff are available to assist with your research. To identify particular titles and their locations, see our catalog.

National and International Resources
Census schedules and indexes (Ancestry Library Edition and Heritage Quest)

Civil War narratives

Educational programs

Family histories (including 25,000 books online)

Genealogical magazines and indexes

Historical atlases

Interlibrary loan service

Digital Archives and CD-ROM databases

An Affiliate Library of the FamilySearch Library, providing access to online digital images of microfilm at Salt Lake City

Military records (including Revolutionary War pension applications)

Newspaper databases (including Washington Post and New York Times)

Passenger lists (including Ancestry Library Edition)

Research guides

Vital records (including American's Obituaries and Death Notices)

Virginia Materials

Prince William County Materials

New Acquisitions

RELIC Programs

Genealogy:

Climbing Your Family Tree: A Pathfinder. Answers to the ten questions we are most often asked about getting started in genealogy.

Electronic Resources: Genealogy reference tools just a click away.

Find out who else is interested in your Prince William County ancestors.

Genealogy Programs.

Prince William County Families.

RELIC offers a variety of historical and genealogical materials for the study of Prince William County persons, places, and events. Here is a summary of types of materials we collect. (See our catalog for a full listing of our holdings.)

Cemetery records

Church records

County government records on microfilm

Family files

Genealogical exchange file

Government Officials

Board of Supervisors 1870-2004

Clerks 1731 - present

Sheriffs 1731-1904

Sheriffs 1904-2004

Historic sites files

Bel Air (Ewell Family Home)

Historical maps

Inventors

Local newsletters

Manuscripts

Newspapers

Photographs

Real estate atlas and directory (County Mapper and assessment data)

School yearbooks

Vital Records

Here are some primary online sources for historical research in Prince William County:

Roots in Prince William: A Pathfinder. An exhaustive guide to many of the important and little-known sources for our early history.

Local News Index: An index to news stories and obituaries that have appeared in the Potomac News, Manassas Journal Messenger, and other Prince William newspapers since 1993. Prepared by RELIC volunteers. A work in progress. Includes some obituaries as early as 1970.

Prince William Digital Archives: Documents, data and images of Prince William County

Prince William Reliquary: Our online magazine of Prince William history and genealogy, published since 2002.

Prince William County, Virginia by Ron Turner.

Prince William County Genealogy, blog by Carolyn Lynn.

Prince William County Genealogical Society

Part of RELIC’s mission is to provide access to Virginia historical information. In that regard we have collected a variety of statewide sources in addition to historical and genealogical sources for each local jurisdiction within the state.

Virginia materials include:

Abstracts of local records from around the state.

African Virginians Prior to 1865 (research guide)

All Virginia census schedules 1790-1930 (microfilm and online).

City directories (microfilm and microfiche).

County and town histories (books and online).

Encyclopedia of Virginia - a partnership between the Library of Virginia and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.

Freedman’s Bureau records (microfilm).

Historical magazines (some available online)

Land grants (Northern Neck grants on microfilm. Virginia land grants also available online).

Military rolls from the Revolution and Civil War (microfilm).

Newspapers on microfilm, plus abstracts and indexes.

Statewide indexes to births, marriages, and deaths (microfilm).

Topographic and historical maps.

The American Civil War figures importantly in the history of Prince William County. Two of the largest battles of the conflict took place here - First and Second battles of Manassas, also known as Bull Run (1861 and 1862). The Bristow Campaign (1863) was also a major action. First Confederate and then Union military forces occupied the county for the entire war (1861-1865). The Manassas National Battlefield Park is only a mile from our library. The County is preserving a portion of the Bristow Battlefield. Many local historic sites are linked to the events of that era.

Chasing the Civil War: A Pathfinder. A guide to many of the resources available for researching the War.

Historic Sites Index: Identifies many of the Civil War sites in Prince William County, with sources of information.

The Civil War in Prince William County, by Jan Townsend and James Burgess

Selected Digital Titles from RELIC's Collection:

Seventy-eight Years Ago: Bull Run Battlefield by Susan Morton

Signal Corps, U.S.A. Reunion 1902

Visit
While access to the RELIC collection is available whenever Central Libary is open, there may not always be a RELIC staff member available to help. If you require individual assistance and/or are traveling from a distance, you may wish to call 703-792-8380 and/or email [Mailto:relic2@pwcgov.org|email us] to verify the hours when RELIC staff will be available.


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