Pennsylvania Vital Records: Difference between revisions

The following is a list of online resources useful for locating Pennsylvania Vital Records which consist of [[United States Birth Records|births]], adoptions, [[United States Marriage Records|marriages]], divorces, and [[United States Death Records|deaths]].  Most online resources for Pennsylvania Vital Records are indexes. After locating a person in an index always consult the original record to [[Contradictions and discrepancies|confirm the information]] in the index. It is important to note that current Pennsylvania laws do not permit state vital records to be preserved online. This policy includes a prohibition against having an online index of state births and deaths. Watch the [http://users.rcn.com/timarg/PaHR-Access PaHR-Access website] for information on helping to change this legislation. Available online records include those kept by the various counties or cities of Pennsylvania. These records generally cover births and deaths from 1893-1905, before the state began its vital records program in 1906. Births, deaths and marriages were also officially recorded by the counties between 1851-1855. County marriages are then recorded from 1885 to the present. Some exceptions include city births or deaths beginning in 1803--as in the case of Philadelphia--or the 1870's--as in the case of Reading and Pittsburgh. Also, some city, township, or borough vital records overlap the state records for several years as late as the 1940's.