California Archives and Libraries

The following archives, libraries, and societies have collections or services helpful for genealogical research.

California State Archives

1020 "O" Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Telephone: 916-653-7715
Fax: 916-653-7363
E-Mail: ArchivesWeb@ss.ca.gov
Internet: http://www.ss.ca.gov/archives/archives_e.htm

National Archives—Pacific Region (Riverside)

23123 Cojaico Road
Perris, CA 92570
Telephone: 951-956-2000
Fax: 951-956-2029
Internet: http://www.archives.gov/pacific/riverside/

National Archives—Pacific Region (San Bruno)

1000 Commodore Drive
San Bruno, CA 94066-2350
Telephone: 650-238-3501
Fax: 650-238-3510
E-Mail: sanbruno.archives@nara.gov
Internet:http://www.archives.gov/pacific/san-francisco/index.html

California Genealogical Society and Library

California Genealogical Society and Library

2201 Broadway, Suite LL2
Oakland, CA 94612-3031
Telephone: 510-663-1358
Fax: 510-663-1596
Website: http://californiaancestors.org/

Blog: http://blog.californiaancestors.org/

California State Library

914 Capitol Mall
Sacramento, CA 95814

Mailing address:
P. O. Box 942837
Sacramento, CA 94237-0001
Telephone: 916-654-0261
Fax: 916-654-0241
E-Mail: cslsirc@library.ca.gov
Internet: http://www.library.ca.gov/  

A helpful guide to the California State Library is Gary E. Strong and Gary F. Kurutz, Editors, Local History and Genealogical Resources of the California State Library and Its Sutro Branch. Sacramento, California: California State Library Foundation, 1983. (Family History Library book 979.4 H23c)

Carlsbad City Library

1250 Carlsbad Village Drive

Carlsbad, CA 92008

Telephone: 760-434-2931

Internet: http://www.carlsbadlibrary.org

Society of California Pioneers

300 Fourth Street
San Francisco, CA 94107-1272
Telephone: 415-957-1849
Fax: 415-957-9858
E-Mail: info@californiapioneers.org
Internet: http://www.californiapioneers.org/

To learn more about the history and record-keeping systems of California counties, use the 16 inventories of the county archives produced by the Historical Records Survey around 1940. The Family History Library has 13 of these inventories.

Two helpful guides to California archives and repositories are:

Coy, Owen C. Guide to the County Archives of California. Sacramento, California: California Printing Office, 1919. (Family History Library film 962744.)

Directory of Archival and Manuscript Repositories in California. Redlands, California: Beacon Printery, 1975. (Family History Library book 979.4 J54d; film 1036038 item 3.)

Web Sites

You can find computerized research tips and information about ancestors from California in a variety of sources at local, state, national, and international levels. The list of sources is growing rapidly. Most of the information is available at no cost.

Addresses on the Internet change frequently. Currently the following sites are important gateways:

The USGenWeb Project

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

Roots-L

http://www.rootsweb.com/roots-l/usa/

A useful list of sites and resources. Includes a large, regularly updated research coordination list.

FamilySearch™

http://www.familysearch.org

The Family History Library and some Family History Centers have computers with FamilySearch™. FamilySearch is a collection of computer files containing several million names. FamilySearch is a good place to begin your research. Some of the records come from compiled sources; some have been automated from original sources.