Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

United States Pennsylvania  Luzerne County

History
Named for Anne-Cesar, Chevalier de la Luzerne, a most popular minister from the French court during the American Revolutionary War.

Note of Interest
Luzerne County is the only county in the United States where a plurality of residents state their ancestry as Polish per Census 2000 report.

Parent County
25 September 1786: Luzerne County was created 25 September 1786 from Northumberland County.

Boundary Changes

 * 21 Feb 1810: Ontario and Susquehanna Counties were set off.
 * 4 April 1842: Wyoming County set off.

Neighboring Counties
Carbon | Columbia | Lackawanna | Monroe | Schuylkill | Sullivan | Wyoming

Church
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Nanticoke
 * Plymouth

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.

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Web Sites

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