Alaska, United States Genealogy

United States Alaska

Featured Content
The National Archives has land-entry case files and a card index to 1908 containing only 56 cash entries and 133 homestead patents for the entire state. Patents, tract books, and township plats are at:

Bureau of Land Management 222 W. 7th Ave. #13 Anchorage AK 99513-7599 Telephone 907-271-5555 Fax 907-272-3430 Internet: http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en.html

Did You Know?
More than half of the coastline of the entire United States is in Alaska.

Jurisdictions
The U.S. state of Alaska is not divided into counties, as 48 other states are (Louisiana having parishes instead), but it is divided into boroughs. Many of the more densely populated parts of the state are part of Alaska's nineteen boroughs, which function somewhat similarly to counties in other states. However, unlike county-equivalents in the other 49 states, the boroughs do not cover the entire land area of the state. The area not part of any borough is referred to as the Unorganized Borough.

For the 1970 census, the U.S. Census Bureau, in cooperation with the state, divided the unorganized borough into 11 census areas, each roughly corresponding to an election district. However, these areas exist solely for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation. They have no government of their own. Boroughs and census areas are both treated as county-level equivalents by the Census Bureau.

As of July 1, 2013 the state had 19 organized boroughs and 10 census areas within 6 regions. The three types of boroughs vary by the services they provide and their relationships with city governments. The Municipality of Anchorage, the City and Borough of Juneau, the City and Borough of Sitka, and the City and Borough of Wrangell are unified home rule municipalities, where the city government and borough government are merged.

The table below shows the regions, boroughs and census areas as of July 1, 2013. Census areas in the Unorganized Borough are shown in italics. Because these areas have changed over time, it may be worthwhile for a researcher to look at the political jurisdictions at the time of ancestors being researched. More information is available on the Alaska Department of Labor web site.

Major Repositories
Suzallo and Allen Library, Univ. of Washington· Alaska State Archives·Alaska State Library· University of Alaska, Anchorage· University of Alaska, Fairbanks· Anchorage Municipal Library· National Archives at Seattle· Family History Library· Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park Seattle· Library and Archives Branch Whitehorse, YT· Quesnel and District Museum, Quesnel, BC

Research Tools

 * Alaska Trails to the Past
 * Find which county a town is in, what town a cemetery is in, even where a postoffice or building is by using the United States Geographical Survey's Geographical Names Information System.
 * David Rumsey Map Collection is a large online collection of rare, old, antique historical atlases, globes, maps, charts plus other cartographic treasures.
 * The Alaska GenWeb Project has a wealth of information and is a part of the larger USGenWeb Project. The USGenWeb Project provides internet information on every county in every state in the United States.
 * BYU Alaska Research Outline

Obtain additional help

 * Call or chat with an experienced researcher
 * Join a Facebook Group
 * Consult a Professional Genealogist

Help with the Alaska Wiki pages
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