Mobile Public Library

To Do: Use William Dollarhide and Ronald A. Bremer, America's Best Genealogy Resource Centers to update Alternate Repositories section.

Mobile Public Library Ben May Main Library, Mobile Public Library, Mobile, Alabama, half a block from their Local History and Genealogy building. Contact Information E-mail:   lhgservices@mplonline.org Address: Local History and Genealogy 753 Government Street Mobile, AL 36602-1404 Telephone:  251-208-7093 Hours and holidays:  Monday-Wednesday 9-5; Thursday-Saturday 9-3; Holiday schedule. Map, and public transportation: Google map. The free downtown Moda Trolley stops right at the Main Library; as does Bus Route 12 ($). Internet sites and databases: Mobile Public Library (MPL) Internet site reference services, getting books from other libraries, used book sales, services, bookmobile, youth services, and magazine services. MPL Catalog online search by words, phrase, author, title, subject, series, or periodical title, and in WorldCat. Local History and Genealogy webpage describes their collections. Collection Description Local history along the Gulf Coast from Pensacola FL to Pascagoula MS, southeastern U.S. genealogy, migration paths to AL, newspaper clippings, city directories, federal censuses, Dawes Commission Indian rolls, Index to Confederate pensions of AL and MS, roster of Confederate soldiers, and Mobile County Probate Court index 1819-1964, photos, Panton-Leslie trading company papers (est. during Spanish rule), CSS Alabama ship's log-journal and other papers. Alternate Repositories If you cannot visit or find a source at the Mobile Public Library, a similar source may be available at one of the following. Overlapping Collections Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery, local government files, newspapers, maps, church records, Civil War soldiers, photos, publications, historical quarterly, 1867 voter database, World War I Goldstar database, vertical files, personal history surname file, and AL city directories inventory. National Archives at Atlanta federal censuses, Ancestry.com, military, pensions, bounty-land, photos, passengers arrival indexes, naturalizations, Native Americans, African Americans, workshops. Similar Collections Family History Library, Salt Lake City, 450 computers, 3,400 databases, 3.1 million microforms, 4,500 periodicals, 310,000 books of worldwide family and local histories, civil, church, immigration, ethnic, military, Mormon records. Dallas Public Central Library 111,700 volumes, 64,500 microfilms, 89,000 microfiche, and over 700 maps, marriage, probate, deed, and tax abstracts in book form, or microfilm of originals for some states, and online databases. Neighboring Collections Alabama Genealogical Society/Samford University Library Special Collections, Birmingham, Baptist and Alabama history, church records, current and old newspapers, manuscripts, books, and theses. Birmingham Public Library government records, business records, maps, photos, letters, diaries, scrapbooks, about the Jefferson County area, newspapers, maps, and Southern history. Florence-Lauderdale Public Library, Florence, AL, good northwest AL local history collection. Mobile Municipal Archives government papers including minutes, registered voters, poll tax books, and petitions. Mobile County Probate Court deeds 1813-1958, military discharges 1919-present, Lis Pendens 1915-1958, marks and brands 1872-1965, marriage licenses 1813-present, wills 1812-present. Bureau of Vital Statistics, Montgomery, birth and death certificates 1908-present, marriage certificates 1936-present, divorce records 1950-present. Auburn University Libraries, Auburn, AL, federal depository library, genealogy websites, censuses, printed sources, manuscripts. Alabama Historical Association news and events, Alabama Review, historical markers program, podcasts, and list of Alabama genealogical and historical societies. See also U. of W. Alabama Library. History Museum of Mobile, Mobile and Baldwin county artifacts, photos, and World War II casualty lists. Mobile Genealogical Society, calendar, cemeteries, MGS publications, Deep South Genealogical Quarterly  index 1962-present, researchers and their surnames. Sources

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