Santa Maria California FamilySearch Center

Discover Gather  Connect

Welcome to the '''Santa Maria California FamilySearch Center. ''' We are here to help you discover and gather information about your ancestors so you can make heart to heart connections with your family past, present, and future. Our services and time are FREE to all and we strive to help you be successful in your search and discovery. We can help you build your family tree with a FREE FamilySearch account, add photos to your tree, or find documents, sources, and stories proving the details of your relatives' lives.''

BEFORE YOU COME
If you have a FamilySearch account, be sure to bring your Username and Password for logging into your account. If it has been awhile since you logged into FamilySearch, we also encourage you to bring your cell phone and the email account Username and Password you used when you originally set up your account. This will allow you to retrieve a code from FamilySearch just in case you forget your required login information. If you don't have a FamilySearch account, we can help you set up a FREE account - just be prepared to access either your cell phone or email account as described above.

Address & Location Information:

 * 908 Sierra Madre Avenue, Santa Maria, California 93454.
 * Parking and entrance to the FamilySearch Center are at the southwest corner of the large church building, and our sign is on the building near the entrance to the Center.
 * Please ring the doorbell on the left frame of the door for entrance to the FamilySearch Center.

Center Director:

 * Ramona Cashmore

Phone:

 * 1-805-928-4722
 * If we're not available to answer the phone, please leave a message and we will call you as soon as possible.

Email:

 * [mailto:ca_santamaria@familyhistorymail.org ca_santamaria@familyhistorymail.org]

Hours (all time frames are PST):

 * DAYS: Tues-Wed-Thurs: 10:00am-2:00pm
 * EVENINGS: Tues & Wed: 6:30pm-8:30pm
 * Everything else by Appointment Only

2023 Center Closures:

 * New Year's Day
 * Thursday, March 2 - due to RootsTech being shown online worldwide
 * November 21-23 for Thanksgiving week
 * Dec 19 through Jan 1 for the Christmas holidays

Upcoming Events

 * RootsTech 2024 - the largest genealogical conference in the world, held annually in Salt Lake City, Utah and online. Register for in-person attendance or view for FREE online, Feb 29 - Mar 2, 2024.


 * Monthly Classes (all time frames are PST):

Staff Specialties
We have friendly and experienced volunteers who have various skill sets in research, software, and locations, and English is our main language. We also offer translation help by appointment in the following languages:
 * Spanish
 * Italian
 * Finnish
 * German

Hardware and Equipment

 * 15 computer workstations with printer access
 * 2 large drop-down media screens for participation in group classes covering online materials
 * 3 sets of headphones for quiet use while viewing online family history videos
 * 1 Lexmark Laser Black & White Printer/Copier/Scanner (no charge for copies or prints, up to 20 pages)
 * 1 Epson Flatbed Photo Scanner (scans photos, negatives, and slides)
 * 1 Epson Upright-Feeding Document Scanner
 * 1 Microfilm Reader
 * 1 Microfiche Reader
 * 1 Canon Microfiche/Microfilm Scanner-Copier

Newsletters

 * Typically these are sent out monthly or bi-monthly. If you would like to stay informed as to our upcoming classes and events, please email us at [mailto:ca_santamaria@familyhistorymail.org ca_santamaria@familyhistorymail.org], and ask to join our Newsletter list.

Collections

 * FamilySearch Catalog: FamilySearch Centers worldwide no longer have the ability to order microfilms and microfiche listed in the FamilySearch Catalog, and many of the films and fiche have been returned to FamilySearch in Salt Lake City, Utah. All of the films and fiche in the Catalog have been digitized and most are available online for viewing images. Those images that are not viewable online are due to contractual limitations imposed upon FamilySearch by the record-holders. We apologize for any inconvenience due to the restrictions and appreciate your understanding that we are bound by those contracts.


 * Our FamilySearch Center has returned most of its original film holdings but we still have a few films on hand in the film cabinet. Presently we still have most of our microfiche collection too.


 * We also have a Reference Library housing over 1,000 books, periodicals, and maps to help you with local and worldwide research.

Databases and Software
Our Center has access to the FamilySearch Center Portal which offers free access to premium family history software and websites. Often these sites will charge subscription fees but here in the Center, there is no charge for patrons to use them. The Portal currently offers the following:


 * 19th Century British Library Newspapers - A fully searchable database of 48 national and regional Victorian British newspapers for the 19th century from 1800 to 1900.
 * Alexander Street- American research divided into the following 4 categories:
 * Social and Cultural History : Personal accounts of well-known historical figures.
 * The American Civil War - Letters and Diaries : Contains approximately 100,000 indexed pages of diaries, letters, and memoirs, including 4,000 pages of previously unpublished manuscripts.
 * The American Civil War - Images, Photographs, Posters, and Ephemera (items intended for a short-lived time, such as tickets, pamphlets, notices, etc.) This collection contains over 1,400 images.
 * Women and Social Movements in the United States : Organized around the history of women in social movements in the United States between 1600 and 2000 A.D.
 * American Ancestors - Created by the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS), a time-honored American genealogical organization. Read important and scholarly publications, access millions of exclusive and sought-after records online, and learn with in-depth online courses and webinars from expert staff.
 * Ancestry Institution - A free version of Ancestry.com, the world's largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, with access to millions of online records and images.
 * ArkivDigital - The largest private provider of Swedish Church Records and other historical records online, with newly photographed color images of the original documents.
 * FamNet - A website for those who have New Zealand roots.
 * Findmypast - A website dedicated to researching your United Kingdom ancestry. Please note that not all of the content from Findmypast is available in FamilySearch centers.
 * Fold3 - Search or browse millions of historical Military documents and photos. Fold3 has refocused their efforts on gathering the best online collection of military records and stories.
 * Geneanet - The first site dedicated to genealogy in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Germany, with 2 million members who exchange genealogical information. This resource contains English parish records, directories, census, civil registration, surname mapping, and selected army and navy lists.
 * Irish Ancestors - This site aims to be the one-stop starting point for all Irish ancestral research, mapping surnames and surname variants in all the major sources and providing easy links back to all the underlying records.
 * MyHeritage Library Edition - Used by millions of people worldwide to help research family history, build a family tree, and add photos, historical records, and more.
 * NewspaperArchive - The largest historical newspaper database online, from 1607 to the present. Every newspaper in the archive is fully searchable by keyword and date, making it easy for you to quickly explore historical content.
 * Paper Trail - This site provides access to 19th-century westward American migration documents.
 * Puzzilla - This site works with your FamilySearch Family Tree account and helps you find new research opportunities on descendant lines in Family Tree.

Resources in the Local Area
Santa Maria Public Library: Special Collections 421 S. McClelland St. Santa Maria, CA 93454

Santa Maria Valley Genealogical Society www.SMVGS.org

The Society meets on the 3rd Thursday of each month from 2:15-4pm here at the Santa Maria FamilySearch Center. They do not meet in June, July, August or December. The Society can be reached for volunteer help through the Santa Maria Public Library: 805-925-0994 or by email at Roots@smvgs.org. If you are just getting started, new to the area, or need something special in your research they are another source of help.

Santa Maria Valley Historical Society Museum 616 S. Broadway Santa Maria, CA 93454

Other Helpful Links and Information
The Links below offer in-depth information and education on research helps as well as particular places or subjects. Click a link to see more.


 * The Family History Guide - An in depth and educational website with self-paced lessons about how to use FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Findmypast. You can read about, practice what you learn, and watch videos on different aspects of each website, and more.


 * California Genealogy


 * Family History for Beginners


 * Genealogy Research Forms


 * Latter-day Saint Online Genealogy Records


 * Mexico Genealogy


 * National Archives at San Francisco


 * Santa Barbara County, California


 * United States Genealogy

Come Join Our Team of Volunteers!
We would love to have you join our staff for a 2-4 hour shift one day per week. We will train you and help you make the most of a very rewarding service opportunity. All that is required is a desire to help people, a familiarity with computers, and a friendly demeanor. You do not need to be a member of the Church to volunteer as a staff member. If you have any questions, just [mailto:ca_santamaria@familyhistorymail.org email] us or call 805-928-4722 and if we're not open, leave a message and we'll call you back!

Maintained by: Ramona Cashmore, Director 

Last modified: 6 October 2023