Columbus Georgia FamilySearch Center

In the Columbus Georgia Family History Center (FHC)'', we focus our efforts on the marvelous work of coming to truly know our family history and those who were part of it - including their stories. Our facility and consultants are available to help provide you with the tools to expand your family tree, and more importantly, come to really know who those people were - not just their names, dates, and locations. We stand ready to assist anyone wishing to learn more about their family history.''







=Center Contacts and Hours=

Location Map:


 * Location Map

The entrance is located through a separate outside door halfway back on the south side of the building at:

4400 Reese Road

Columbus GA 31907

United States

1-706-563-7216 (during operating hours)

columbus_georgia_fhc@mindspring.com  (for normal email communication with FHC)

- - -

GA_Columbus@familyhistorymail.org (not monitored daily -  DO NOT USE for normal email )

FHC Schedule -

Effective 15 September 2021

Due to very limited staff availability and a significant upsurge in local COVID cases and deaths, the FHC is now open on an appointment only basis for the purpose of accessing those few restricted image records that can only be viewed within a FHC. With both the Columbus Libraries (Chattahoochee Valley Libraries) as well as the Harris County Public Library now approved as FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries, the large majority (approximately 90%) of restricted images may be viewed at those locations a much more extensive and convenient hours than the FHC was previously able to provide. Other routine tasks can be viewed on the FamilySearch phone apps,or on home computers. To obtain a private appointment, please email the normal email communication email address (above), giving your name, a contact phone number, and preferred days/times for an appointment. Masks are currently required for all patrons and staff until further notice.

Additionally, the FHC is offering up to 1-hour telephone or Zoom consultations. Appointments may be scheduled by emailing the FHC at < columbus_georgia_fhc@mindspring.com >. In your email include your name, the kind of assistance you would most like to receive, the best times for your consultation, and your phone number. A temple and family history consultant will contact you to set up a time for your consultation.







Once the FHC has fully reopened again, the following will apply:



GROUPS & SPECIAL APPOINTMENTS: During normal operating conditions, we request that groups NOT come in during normally scheduled open hours, since we have limited staff members to assist, and with visitors who have come during those open hours, computer space may not be sufficiently available to accommodate groups. HOWEVER - Please contact the FHC Leader by calling the FHC phone during normal hours, in order to schedule a special time for a group session. Be ready to include how many will be coming and what the group wishes to accomplish, in order that staff can be adequately prepared to provide a meaningful experience.

FAMILY GROUPS: Family groups wishing to hold a Family Home Evening in the Family History Center can also schedule a time just for their family. Please contact the FHC Leader by calling the FHC phone number during normal operating hours, and ask to speak with the FHC Leader who will return the call as soon as possible if not currently in the FHC. Family groups are particularly encouraged for either Sunday or Monday evenings. A number of families have had special experiences during such appointments, and the staff is ready to help fit the needs of each family, including all family members individually.

SCHEDULED CLOSURES: The FHC is closed on major holidays, such as New Years Day, Easter Sunday, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day (July 4th), Thanksgiving, and Christmas. It also is not open on the first weekend of either April or October due to the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Again, it is recommended that you call the FHC phone number during scheduled operating hours to verify that it is open. We are still short on staff, and with emergencies, illnesses, etc., there are occasional times when the Center is unable to be open during portions of some scheduled operating hours.

Local Community Events:
COLUMBUS PUBLIC LIBRARY:

See the Chattahoochee Valley Libraries site for their schedule of genealogical and family history related classes. They have a good schedule of classes both at the main library on Macon Road as well as at other branches.

MUSCOGEE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY:

Be sure to check the Society's web site (see below under "Resources in the Local Area") periodically for their informative and helpful programs (generally four per year).

FHC Class Schedule
There are currently no classes scheduled at the FHC. However, see above for classes at the main Columbus Library on Macon Road.

Staff Training Meetings
Stay tuned! Training is in the planning stages for all consultants. When it is done, it will be done thoroughly and correctly.

Collections
There are many books and other resources available. However, they are NOT available for lending purposes. Sadly some important resources have disappeared from the FHC.

Please never remove any books, periodicals, films, etc., from the FHC.

Many people over the years have ordered a large number of microfilms on an indefinite loan basis from the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Beginning in September 2017, no further microfilms can be ordered due to the fact that a large percentage of them have now been digitized and are available on line through FamilySearch. This allows for home use and printing, rather than merely just viewing them with the rather old microfilm readers currently available in the FHC. There is no current plan for eliminating existing microfilms already available in our FHC collection, and adequate notice would be provided if that policy changes.

Databases and Software
The main Church database collection is online at FamilySearch. While this is available for free to anyone, anywhere, there is a distinct advantage for using FamilySearch in the FHC on one of our computers. Some collections are restricted by their copyright holders, for example, and the Church is therefore restricted in how it can provide those collections for use. Therefore, even for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, some collections cannot be viewed at home and a notice will inform the user that they will need to be viewed at a FHC computer. Now that all seven of the Chattahoochee Valley Libraries in all four counties are certified as FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries, the vast majority of those restricted records can also be viewed on one of their computers as well. They also currently have Ancestry.com and Fold3 available for research for free.

Additionally, there is a special FHC Portal between the FHC and the Family History Department in Salt Lake City. This center has access to the Family History Center Portal page which gives free access to premium family history software and websites that are only available outside the FHC for a fee (for example, Ancestry.com, Fold3, etc.). While Ancestry.com is also available for free within Georgia public and University-system libraries, the FHC also has other web sites available without charge when using the FHC computers. Click the FHC Portal link at the beginning of this paragraph to see the list of premium resources at the FHC. The list is updated from time to time as contracts change, but is representative of the quality of additional resources now available in the FHC at no charge. Each computer in the Family History Center is programmed to start with the list of premium resources when FamilySearch is opened (full use of FamilySearch can still be accomplished from that opening page simply by clicking the link to FamilySearch at the top "Favorites" bar).

Finally, all six computers at the FHC have authorized copies of both Legacy and RootsMagic family history software for personal use. Personal family trees may be copied from FamilySearch into either of these commercially available programs and taken home for personal use if you have the same software at home, or else saved on a personally owned USB thumb drive and updated anytime a user comes into the FHC. (NOTE: NO personal storage of information is permitted on the FHC computers - all saving of data must be done on personally owned USB drives.)

Center Services
In our center we have the following resources to help you reach your goals in genealogy:

Film Readers

Microfiche Reader

Computers - six late model Dell All-in-One touch-screen computers installed in August 2019 with reliable high speed internet connections (a 1-Gigabit internet connection was installed on 28 December 2018)

Films & Microfiche (note: Microfiche collections are being deleted from all FHC inventories, and some microfilm holdings may be eliminated in the future, though there are no immediate plans for doing so.)

Films & Microfiche Rental (DISCONTINUED effective 8 September 2017) - but what has been ordered into the FHC in the past is still here. HOWEVER, all Family History Centers are being asked to return all films and microfiche except those that are being actively used currently. Note that all or nearly all of the images on the films are now available on line at (1) FamilySearch.org through any computer, (2) at the FHC, and (3) at any of the Chattahoochee Valley Libraries branches (including the main library on Macon Rd.). Some films are restricted by the copyright owners and we're only allowed to make them available at the FHC or at the seven branches of the Chattahoochee Valley Libraries when authorized by the copyright owners.

Scanner/copier (with direct Scan to FamilySearch capability for documents and photos you wish to add to your "Memories" pages on FamilySearch): The scanner can be used to scan color photos or documents to a thumb drive which a patron may take home, or directly into your FamilySearch Memories "Gallery" from the FHC. However, the printer function of the Scanner/copier will only print black and white copies.

Temple and Family History Consultants (FHC staff members) are available to assist patrons, though they have varying levels of experience with genealogical research, and may not be able to assist in more complex situations or with some aspects of genealogical research. However, they will generally be able to help you locate an appropriate resource that can help if the individual staff members are unable to provide what you are looking for.

Staff Research Specialties:
While some staff members have particular personal areas of interest, probably the most helpful "specialty" is how to use the resources within the FamilySearch website and other resources in the Family History Center. If you haven't seen what's available even in the past year, and particularly if it's been a number of years, patrons are often greatly surprised at how far the resources have significantly advanced compared to just a few years ago - some things are now changing and improving almost by the week! FamilySearch has been adding new records that can now be searched at an average of more than 30 million new records every single month, plus millions of new images each month as well. Finding all those that pertain to your family has been made far easier and much faster. Come and see! What was not there just months or a year or two ago may have been added.

Resources in the Local Area
Be sure to become familiar with the Columbus Public Library and their excellent Genealogy Room on the 2nd floor. The entire four-county, seven-branch Library system is now an authorized FamilySearch Affiliate Library. Their resources in the Columbus main library are significant and of course free to use within the Genealogy Room. Their leadership and staff are making significant strides toward becoming a major family history resource for the larger area surrounding Columbus, GA, and Phenix City, AL. The main Library is located at:

3000 Macon Rd

Columbus, Georgia 31906

Phone: 706-243-2669 or 1-800-652-0782

The Genealogy Department phone number is: 706-243-2681

Muscogee Genealogical Society - Check out our local genealogical society for even more possibilities. They've been a part of the local genealogical community for over 40 years! From their web site:

"Muscogee Genealogical Society, founded in 1976, serves all genealogists researching family records in the original Muscogee County. The counties formed from the original Muscogee County are Muscogee, Harris, Marion, Talbot & Chattahoochee Counties. The Society also includes news from the adjacent counties of Troup, Stewart, Upson, Webster and Meriwether in Georgia and Barbour, Chambers, Lee and Russell in Alabama.The Society encourages all genealogists living in the Chattahoochee Valley to join regardless of their ancestral connection to the area. The society encourages affiliation & cooperation of all persons interested in the research of their ancestral heritage."

Links
Online Genealogy Records by Location
 * Using the FamilySearch Research Wiki: A comprehensive video presentation explaining the Wiki, navigating it, and some especially useful pages. Case studies demonstrate using the Wiki for genealogical research. Editing and adding articles to the Wiki are covered.

Volunteer at the Center
If you would like to volunteer at the Family History Center, please contact one of the staff who will help you begin the approval process. The FHC welcomes both Latter-day Saint and non-Latter-day Saint volunteers. We only ask that you keep the schedule you agree to keep, or arrange for a substitute whenever situations arise that require you to miss your agreed-upon schedule. Need training in the use of our computers and particularly the FamilySearch program? No problem! We'll help you get up to speed. You are not required to be an expert genealogical researcher - just have a heart-felt interest and a willingness to help others.