North Carolina Archives and Libraries

Many archives and libraries have resources such as maps, gazetteers, and other place-finding aids to help you locate information about North Carolina. They may 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 in the state.

Archives and Libraries

The following archives and libraries have collections or services for North Carolina genealogical research:

North Carolina State Archives
109 East Jones Street
Raleigh, NC 27601

Telephone: 919-807-7310
Fax: 919-733-1354
Internet: http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/archives/
E-mail: archives@ncmail.net

Mailing address:
North Carolina State Archives
4614 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-4614

North Carolina State Library
109 East Jones Street
Raleigh, NC 27601-2807

Telephone: 919-807-7460
Internet: http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/

Mailing Address:
Genealogical Services
State Library of North Carolina
4641 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-4641

The North Carolina State Archives maintains original records of North Carolina governments on the state, district, and county levels. The North Carolina State Library is at the same location and houses books, pamphlets, and family files.

Catalogs of the holdings of the North Carolina State Archives and the North Carolina State Library are available on their Internet sites. Printed guides available at the Family History Library to holdings at the North Carolina State Archives include:

Cain, Barbara T. Guide to Private Manuscript Collections in the North Carolina State Archives'.''''3rd rev. ed. Raleigh, North Carolina: North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, Division.) This lists about 12,000 collections with family histories, Bi of Archives and History, 1986. (FHL book 975.6 A3c).  This lists about 12,000 collectins with family histories, Bible records, biographical information, state and local records, records of organizations, banks, businesses (over 480 account books), schools, and historical subjects. The guide is well indexed.

North Carolina, Division of Archives and History. Guide to Research Materials in the North Carolina State Archives. Section B: County Records. 11th rev. ed. Raleigh, North Carolina: Department of Cultural Resources, Division of Archives and History, 1997. (FHL book 975.6 A3gr 1997.)

National Archives

The Archives in Morrow has both a Microfilm Research Room and an Archival Research Room. We have extensive microfilm holdings of value for genealogy research and general historical interest. We also have about 70,000 cubic feet of archival holdings dating from 1716 to the 1980s, primarily textual records but also maps, photographs, and architectural drawings.

National Archives-Southeast Region
5780 Jonesboro Road
Morrow, Georgia 30260

Telephone: 770-968-2100
Fax: 770-968-2547
Internet: http://www.archives.gov/southeast/
Email: atlanta.archives@nara.gov

University Collections
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Internet: http://www.unc.edu

A web page containing suggestions for genealogical research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is:

http://www.lib.unc.edu/reference/hum/genealogy.html

Two libraries at the University of North Carolina with departments and collections of interest to genealogists are the Wilson Library and the Davis Library.

The Wilson Library includes the special collections, manuscript, and map departments. Addresses and holdings of the departments are:

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
North Carolina Collection
Wilson Library CB 3930
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890

Telephone: 919-962-1172
Email:  nccref@unc.edu

The North Carolina Collection contains published works on North Carolina and its people. The collection does not have original records. They have a file of newspaper clippings on North Carolina. The file does not include obituaries.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Manuscript Department
Wilson Library CB 3926
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890

Telephone: 919-962-1345
Fax:  919-962-3594
Online inquiry:  http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/mailref.html

The Manuscript Department collects personal papers, letters, and diaries of early North Carolina residents. The Family History Library has the following guides to their manuscript collection:

Blosser, Susan Sokol, and Clyde Norman Wilson Jr. The Southern Historical Collection: A Guide to Manuscripts.Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Library, 1970. (FHL book 975 H23s.) This guide may help you locate biographical and local history information pertaining to a family.

Smith, Everard H. Southern Historical Collection: Supplementary Guide to Manuscripts, 1970–1975. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Library, 1976. (FHL book 975 H23s supp.).

The university’s Internet site contains an inventory of the records the Manuscript Department has received since they published the 1976 supplement.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Davis Library CB 3916
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890

Telephone: 919-962-1151
Internet:www.lib.unc.edu/davis/

Though the Davis Library mainly collects materials for the humanities and social sciences, they are the designated government depository for the state. Their collection includes many federal papers.

Duke University
William R. Perkins Library
Manuscript Department
104 Chapel Drive
Durham, NC 27708

Telephone: 919-660-5800
Internet: [http:/library.duke.edu/specialcollections/index.html http:/library.duke.edu/specialcollections/index.html]

 Duke University has holdings on the American South and North Carolina.  The libraries' collections contain published diaries, letters, papers, maps, newspapers, and public documents.  A guide to some of these collections is:

Trilley, Nannie M., and Noma Lee Goodwin. Guide to the Manuscript Collections in the Duke University Library. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1947. (FHL book 975.6 B5d ser. 27–28; film 899894.) This guide lists about 8,000 names of individuals, families, and historical subjects, and it is indexed.

Inventories of County Records

To learn more about the history and records of North Carolina counties, use the inventories that have been published for each county. These inventories have been printed in:

The Historical Records of North Carolina, 3 vols. Raleigh, North Carolina: North Carolina Historical Commission, 1938–39. (FHL book 975.6 A3hr; film 1036384; .) The inventories are in alphabetical order by county.

Computer Networks and Bulletin Boards

Computers with modems are important tools for obtaining information from selected archives and libraries. Computer networks themselves can serve as a library. The Internet, certain computer bulletin boards, and commercial on-line services help family history researchers:

• • Locate other researchers.
  • Post queries.
  • Send and receive e-mail.
  • Search large databases.
  • Search computer libraries and on-line catalogs.
  • Join in computer chat and lecture sessions.

You can find computerized research tips and information about ancestors from North Carolina in a variety of sources at local, state, national, and international levels. Much of the information is available at little or no cost. Addresses on the Internet change frequently. The following sites are important gateways to additional sites:

FamilySearch™ Internet Genealogy Service.(Salt Lake City, Utah]: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 22 March 1999 [cited 7 October 1999]. Available at www.familysearch.org; INTERNET. At this site you can access the Family History Library Catalog, Ancestral File, International Genealogical Index, lists of Family History Centers, web sites related to family history, and lists of researchers interested in similar genealogical topics. You can also learn about and order Family History Library publications.

Cyndi Howells’ List
www.cyndislist.com/nc.htm

This list has more links to other North Carolina genealogical sites and describes more resources than anywhere else on the Internet.

USGenWeb
www.rootsweb.com/~ncgenweb/

This site is a cooperative effort by many volunteers to list genealogical databases, libraries, bulletin boards, and other resources available on the Internet for each county, state, and country.

Roots-L:  www.rootsweb.com/roots-l/usa/nc.html

This site contains a useful list of sites and resources and includes a large, regularly updated research coordination list.

GenExchange: http://www.genexchange.org/state.php?state=nc

This site includes databases (church, cemetery, census, land, immigration, naturalization, and vital records), directories, historical accounts, mailing lists, queries, local surname researchers, and look-up volunteers.

Genealogical Bulletin Board Systems (GBBS) http://www.genealogy.org/state.asp?state=NC
 

This site lists genealogical electronic bulletin boards where you can look for answers and post queries.

For further details about using computer networks, bulletin boards, and news groups for family history research, see the "Archives and Libraries" section of the United States Research Outline(30972).

Guides and inventories for collections at archives and libraries can be found in the Family History Library Catalog by using a Place Search under:

NORTH CAROLINA- ARCHIVES AND LIBRARIES

NORTH CAROLINA, [COUNTY], [TOWN]- ARCHIVES AND LIBRARIES

Family History Library (FHL); now called, FamilySearch Library (FSL)

International Genealogical Index (FamilySearch) - free