Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

United States Pennsylvania  Schuylkill County

History
Named for the Schuylkill River. Benjamin Franklin left money in his will (dated 1789) for the restoring of the river long time before the conception of "conservation."

Parent Counties
1 March 1811: Schuylkill County was created from Berks and Northampton Counties.

Neighboring Counties
Berks | Carbon | Columbia | Dauphin | Lebanon | Lehigh | Luzerne | Northumberland

Cemeteries
Saint Nicholas Cemetery, Mahanoy City BillionGraves

Land
Due to the lack of vital records for Pennsylvania, land records are an important tool in early Pennsylvania research. Land records will list the seller and purchaser of the property and may hide clues to family connections. Land records for Greene County are available from the recorder's office for 1804 to the present.

Some of the records are available on-line. To search and view the records available on-line is free and no password is needed.

Maps
Ancestor Tracks has posted free downloadable images from the County Atlas of Schuylkill, Pennsylvania, from Recent and Actual Surveys and Records by F.W. Beers and A.B. Cochran (New York, 1875). This atlas located in the Library of Congress shows major landowners and geographic sites at the date of publishing. While the physical maps are in the public domain, the images we have taken of the maps belong to us and are not to be used commercially. We hereby give permission to use them strictly for personal use; please attribute to Ancestor Tracks.

Newspapers
Evening Herald (Shenandoah, PA : 1891-1899) on Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87078000/

Vital Records
A marriage record index, covering 1885 to the present, is available at the Schuylkill County Courthousewebsite.

Societies and Libraries
The Historical Society of Schuylkill County 305 north Centre Street Pottsville, PA 17901 Phone: (570) 622-7540

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.