El Dorado California FamilySearch Center



 "Come on in and visit our newly renovated center and get FREE one-on-one help from our friendly staff, take advantage of our FREE public classes, organize and save all your photographs and documents using our Kodak Photo Scanner, and your slides and negatives using our Epson Slide Converter. You can also use one of our computers with FREE access to a variety of premium genealogical websites like Ancestry.com, My Heritage and Fold 3."

Location and Hours
Location Map: Location Map

Address: 3275 Cedar Ravine, Placerville CA 95667 United States

Phone: 1-530-621-1378

E-mail: ca_eldorado@familyhistorymail.org

New current hours are:


 * Tuesday: 11:00am-5:00pm
 * Wednesday: 11:00am-5:00pm
 * Thursday:11:00am-8:00pm
 * Other times for groups can be arranged by appointment

Holiday Schedule:

Closed the weeks of Thanksgiving (November 21-25), Christmas and New Years (December 19-January 9)

and all major holidays that fall on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

Director: Mike Reinert

Assistant Director: Debbie Hutchings

Secretary: Kathleen Witt

Public Relations:



Upcoming Fall Classes
All classes will be held at the Placerville FamilySearch Center 3275 Cedar Ravine Road, Placerville CA 95667 (Office phone 530-621-1378).

Thursday, September 14th (10:00am and 5:30pm) Irish Records-Where are They? We'll use Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.com to show where you can research for your Irish ancestors. Come with an ancestor you are interested in finding records for and search in these resources.

Special Event! Golden Hub of History 2023
Saturday, September 16th: 10am-4pm at the Eldorado Gold 1848 Building, 515 Main St, Placerville. Learn more about local organizations and offerings, including genealogy, living history, presentations, history detecting, Conference of California Historical Societies Annual Meeting, and so much more. Come visit our table FamilySearch Center display. @eldoradocountyhistoricalsociety.

More info at https://www.californiahistorian.com/krispayne/golden_hub_of_history_2023

'''Thursday, September 28th: 10:00am and 6:00pm. Create a Fan Chart.''' Using your family tree in FamilySearch you can create multi-generational a color fan chart! Come learn how to create your own and bring home your chart free of charge! Taught by Mike Reinert

Thursday, October 5th: 10:00am and 6:00pm. Youth, Teen and Adult fun Using the BYU Tech Lab! Everything techie here in one spot. Create calendars, family maps, play games, create puzzles,... all using your FamilySearch tree. Prepare to be amazed! Taught by Colleen Howell

'''Thursday, October 19th: 10:00am. Using the free Family History Library Portal.''' Many of the commercial websites charge annual fees to access their records. The Family History Library Portal gives you free access to many of these websites. Come to this class to see what websites are available and what each has to offer! Ancestry, FindmyPast, My Heritage, NewspaperArchive, Fold 3... These are always free at the FamilySearch Center. Come see what you are missing! Taught by Anice Nolan

'''Thursday, November 9th: 10am. Gift Giving Ideas.''' Make this upcoming holiday season a time to give the gift of family history. Come to see creative ways to save and share precious memories. Charts, Books, Crafts, tons of ideas to spark your imagination! Come see!

Center Services
 Databases and Software 

FamilySearch Center Portal This center has access to the FamilySearch Center Portal page which gives free access in the center to premium family history software and websites that generally charge for subscriptions


 * 19th Century British Library Newspapers digital archives
 * Alexander Street Press- American Civil War
 * American Ancestors
 * Ancestry Institution
 * ArkivDigital
 * FamNet
 * Findmypast
 * Fold3
 * Geneanet
 * My Heritage Library Edition
 * NewspaperArchive.com
 * Puzilla
 * Paper Trail
 * Irish Ancestors

Hardware and Equipment

 * Eight computers with access to the free premium websites
 * Free wifi and laptop stations
 * Kodak Photo Scanner

Staff Research Specialties
David Ashton: German Translation Specialist (3rd Tuesday 11 a.m.-2 p.m.)

Trained helpers available on every shift Resources in the Local Area:

Roots and Gold Dust Genealogy society meets on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at 1 pm in our building on Cedar Ravine Road.

National Society Daughters of the American Revolution meet quarterly in our building on Cedar Ravine Road

El Dorado County Historical Museum Research Room

Volunteer at the Center
''We welcome volunteers with experience in genealogical research. Our volunteers generally work a three hour shift once a week.''

Our shift schedule is as follows:


 * Tuesdays 11am to 2 pm; 2 pm to 5 pm
 * Wednesdays 11 am to 2 pm; 2 pm to 5 pm
 * Thursdays 11 am to 2 pm; 2 pm to 5 pm; 5 pm to 8 pm

We also welcome volunteers to teach classes on various genealogical research subjects. Please note: we do not charge for our classes or pay our staff or instructors. We are a non profit community center run by community volunteers.

If you are interested in volunteering at our center please contact our Director Mike Reinert at miker1122@comcast.net