Kentucky Archives and Libraries

United States Kentucky   Archives and Libraries

Many archives and libraries have maps, gazetteers, and other place-finding aids about Kentucky. They frequently have collections of previous research such as family and local histories and biographies. Many have record-finding aids such as guides to their own collections or inventories of records housed elsewhere. Archives and libraries located near state boundaries usually collect records relating to the adjacent states. The following archives, libraries, and societies have collections and services useful to genealogical researchers:

Department for Libraries and Archives
The Department for Libraries and Archives is the central repository for city-, county-, and state-level records. It has two facilities of particular interest to genealogists.


 * The state library has printed materials.
 * The state archives maintains original Kentucky government records and other historical documents. Many of these repositories’ records are being microfilmed, and copies are being sent to the Family History Library.

The Department of Libraries and Archives responds to genealogical requests but prefers that requests be sent on a form available on its Internet site or through the mail.

Department for Libraries and Archives Public Records Division 300 Coffee Tree Road Frankfort, KY 40601 Toll Free Phone: 800-928-7000 Telephone: 502-564-8300 Fax: 502-564-5773 Internet: http://www.kdla.ky.gov/

Mailing address: P.O. Box 537 Frankfort, KY 40601-0537

National Archives at Atlanta
National Archives at Atlanta

5780 Jonesboro Road Morrow, Georgia 30260 Phone: 770-968-2100 Fax: 770-968-2547 E-mail: [mailto:atlanta.archives@nara.gov atlanta.archives@nara.gov]

Internet: http://www.archives.gov/southeast/index.html

Archives in Appalachia
A resource for locating archives in Appalachia is:


 * Archives in Appalachia: A Directory. Boone, North Carolina: Appalachian Consortium Press, 1985. The record covers the states of Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The record is arranged alphabetically by state, then by the name of the repository. Each entry lists the archive, its address, phone number, inclusive dates of the collection, the records of the collection, what subjects are covered by the collection, and the size of the collection. There are two indexes: Record type, and Subject, with reference numbers corresponding to the repository. Also included is a list, under “Coming Attractions,” of agencies that do not currently collect manuscript materials but plan to do so in the future.

Kentucky Historical Society
Martin F. Schmidt Research Library Kentucky Historical Society 100 West Broadway Frankfort, Kentucky 502-564-1792, ext. 4460 Internet: http://history.ky.gov

Located on the second floor of the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History. The library is a FamilySearch Affiliate, and as such, library patrons may order microforms from the vast collection held by the Salt Lake City-based Family History Library for temporary use at the Kentucky Historical Society. The library is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. and is free and open to the public. The card catalog for the Martin F. Schmidt library is available on-line, as is the Society's digital collections database, which includes images of manuscripts, maps, photographs and finding aids for the collections at Kentucky Historical Society. The Society also hosts an on-line database of cemetery records that contains over 150,000 names transcribed by volunteers from gravestones across Kentucky.

Special Collections and Archives at University of Kentucky
Margaret I. King Library Department of Special Collections and Archives University of Kentucky 179 Funkhouser Dr. Lexington, KY 40506-0039 Telephone: 859-257-8611 Fax: 859-257-6311 Internet: http://www.uky.edu/Libraries/lib.php?lib_id=13

While the Margaret I. King Library does not specialize in genealogical records, the Department of Special Collections and Archives maintains many items that lend themselves to the study of family and local history. The materials include church records; genealogical collections; historical manuscript collections; the Draper manuscripts, described in Kentucky History; county and local histories; county, state, and federal records; and a biographical file.

Western Kentucky University Library
Western Kentucky University Library 1906 College Heights Blvd., #11067 Bowling Green, KY. 42101-1067 Phone (270) 745-6125. Fax' (270) 745-6422 E-Mail [mailto:library.web@wku.edu library.web@wku.edu] Internet: http://www.wku.edu/library

The Kentucky Library has significant genealogical records, church histories, and biographical files relating to south central Kentucky.

Eastern Kentucky University Library
Eastern Kentucky University Library Crabbe Library Special Collections and Archives 521 Lancaster Ave. Richmond, KY 40475 Telephone: 1-859-622-1790 Fax: 1-859-622-1174 TTY: 1-859-622-6594 E-mail: [mailto:archives.library@eku.edu?subject=From University Archives Website archives.library@eku.edu] Internet: http://www.library.eku.edu/

This university library has many records about Kentucky, Virginia, and North Carolina, with an emphasis on Kentucky records.

Lexington Public Library
Kentucky Room Lexington Public Library 140 East Main Street Lexington, KY 40507 Telephone: 859-231-5520 Internet: http://www.lexpublib.org/

The Kentucky Room of the Lexington Public Library houses many secondary sources on state and local history and genealogy, family histories, census indexes, and some census microfilm. It also has an excellent collection of Lexington newspapers and the Local History Index, an extensive index to newspapers. More detailed information on the collection can be found on the library’s web site.

Special Collections Library at Murray State University
Forrest C. Pogue Special Collections Library Murray State University 208 Waterfield Library Murray, KY 42071-3307 Telephone: 270-809-4295 or 866-774-6612 E-mail: [mailto:Specialcollections@murraystate.edu Specialcollections@murraystate.edu][mailto:library.webmaster@murraystate.edu .] Internet: http://libguides.murraystate.edu/special_collections_index

The Pogue library has records on all areas of Kentucky, with an emphasis on the western portion of the state.

Kenton County Public Library
Kenton County Public Library 502 Scott Blvd Covington, KY 41011 Telephone: 859-962-4070 Internet: http://www.kenton.lib.ky.us

The Kenton County Public Library has extensive statewide, local, and family history materials and in-depth collections for northern Kentucky. It has a local newspaper index for the years 1835 to 1931 and 1984 to the present. This includes an obituary index. The catalog of the Kenton library is available on its web site. You can also access the Kenton County Historical Society from the Library’s web site.

Bristol Public Libary
Bristol Public Library 701 Goode Street Bristol, Virginia 24201-4199 Telephone: 540-645-8780 Fax: 276-669-5593 E-mail: [mailto:bplref@yahoo.com bplref@yahoo.com] Internet: http://www.bristol-library.org/


 * They have a relatively small family folder collection. Nevertheless, it is an important resource for settlers coming from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and northern Virginia along the Great Valley Road into Tennessee, Kentucky, and North Carolina.

Santa Cruz Public Library
Santa Cruz Public Library Downtown 224 Church Street Santa Cruz, California 95060 Telephone: 831-427-7707 ext. 5794 E-mail: E-mail reference service form Internet: http://www.santacruzpl.org/branches/14/


 * Holds the Genealogial Society of Santa Cruz County's library, including the Tina Brayton Collection which is equivalent to the Draper Collection but larger and with a better index, and many compiled genealogies of Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia  families.