Pennsylvania Archives and Libraries

United States Pennsylvania Archives and Libraries

The following archives, libraries, and societies have major collections or services helpful to genealogical researchers.

Pennsylvania State Archives

Mail:350 North Street
Harrisburg, PA 17108-1026
Telephone: 717-783-3281
E-mail: ra-statearchives@state.pa.us
Website: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

Arias (Archives Records Information Access System) is designed to facilitate citizen with online access to archival records created by all branches and levels of Pennsylvania State Government. The original papers were originally microfilmed and later digitized. As of September 2010 there are about 1.5 million records online with more to be added in the future,

Hours:
Wednesday-Friday, 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Saturday ( microfilm use only ), 9:00 a.m.-12:00 noon, 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.
Closed on Mondays, Tuesdays and State Holidays.

The Family History Library has these important guides to collections at the State Archives:

• Suran, Frank M. Guide to the Record Groups in the Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1980. (Family History Library book 974.818/H1 J53s)
• Baumann, Roland M., and Diane S. Wallace. Guide to the Microfilm Collections in the Pennsylvania State Archives. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1980. (Family History Library book 974.8 A3ba.)
• Dructor, Robert M. A Guide to Genealogical Sources at the Pennsylvania State Archives. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1980. (Family History Library book 974.8 D23p.)
• Fortna, Nancy L. P., and Frank M. Suran. Guide to County and Municipal Records on Microfilm in the Pennsylvania State Archives. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1982. (Family History Library book 974.8 A1 no. 613.)
• Whipkey, Harry E. Guide to the Manuscript Groups in the Pennsylvania State Archives. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1976. (Family History Library book 974.818/H1 J53w ; film 1036704 item 13.)
• Guide to the Microfilm of the Records of Pennsylvania's Revolutionary Governments, 1775-1790: (record group 27) in the Pennsylvania State Archives. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1979. (Family History Library book 974.8 N23g.)

For an index to this guide, see:

• Baumann, Roland M. and Diane Smith Wallace. Index to the Guide to the Microfilm of the Records of Pennsylvania's Revolutionary Governments, 1775-1790, in the Pennsylvania State Archives. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1980. (Family History Library book 974.8 N23g index.)

=== National Archives—Mid-Atlantic Region (Downtown Philadelphia) ===
900 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107-4292
Telephone: 215-606-0100
Fax: 215-606-0116

National Archives—Mid-Atlantic Region (Northeast Philadelphia)

14700 Townsend Road
Philadelphia, PA 19154-1025
Telephone: 215-305-2000
Fax: 215-305-2038
Internet: http://www.archives.gov/midatlantic/

Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania

2207 Chestnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 19103-3010
Telephone: 215-545-0391
Fax: 215-545-0936
Internet: http://www.genpa.org/

A surname index of five collections of the society's manuscript archives is located online.

See Pennsylvania Genealogy for a discussion of the resources of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania.

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

1300 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107-5699
Telephone: 215-732-6201
Fax: 215-732-2680
Internet: http://www.hsp.org/

An important resource for this society is Guide to the Manuscript Collections of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 3rd ed. (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Society, 1991; Family History Library book 974.811 J53h).

Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania

Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society

1212 Smallman Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Telephone: 412-454-6000
Fax: 412-454-6028
Internet: http://digital.library.pitt.edu/hswp/

State Library of Pennsylvania

Department of Education

Commonwealth Libraries

333 Market Street
Harrisburg, PA 17126-1745
Telephone: (717) 787-4440
Fax: (717) 783-8445
Internet: Commonwealth Libraries

A helpful source is A Guide to the Genealogy/Local History Section of the State Library of Pennsylvania, 3rd rev. ed. (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: The Division, 1987; [1] 1320564 item 6]). See also Janice B. Newman, Genealogical Research at the State Library of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 35 (1988): 199-212. 

City Archives of Philadelphia

Dept. of Records
401 N. Broad Street, Suite 942
Philadelphia, PA 19108-1099
Telephone: 215-686-1580
Fax: 215-686-2283
Internet: http://www.phila.gov/phils/Docs/Inventor/genealgy.htm

A helpful guide is John C. Daly, Descriptive Inventory of the Archives of the City and County of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: City of Philadelphia, Department of Records, 1970; Supplement, 1980; Family History Library book 974.811 A3d; film 1036003 item 4).

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

4400 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-4080
Telephone: 412-622-3100
Fax: 412-621-1267
Internet: http://www.clpgh.org/

Pennsylvania Counties

To learn more about the history and record-keeping systems of Pennsylvania counties, use the county archive inventories produced around 1940 by the Historical Records Survey. The Family History Library has copies of 17 published inventories and 40 unpublished inventories. See:

• Inventory of the County Archives of Pennsylvania: Records of the Works Project Administration, Pennsylvania Historical Writer's Project. Historical Records Survey. (On 5 Family History Library films beginning with 1014724.) These records contain material on many counties that did not publish an inventory.
• A more current list is: County Records Survey, 1985-1986 [of Pennsylvania]. [Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]: Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. Division of Archives and Manuscripts, 1986. (On 7 Family History Library fiche 6333952.) Philadelphia County is not included, but Pittsburgh city is.
• A very helpful guide is Sylvester K. Stevens and Donald H. Kent, eds., County Government and Archives in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1947; Family History Library book 974.8 N2s; film 1320887 item 10). This guide describes the records kept by the county, the information they contain, when most began, and important history of their development.
• Also helpful though dated is Irwin Richman, Historical Manuscript Depositories in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1965; Family History Library book 974.8 H23r). It provides a detailed description of the manuscripts in most libraries and archives in Pennsylvania in 1965.
• A useful directory of eastern Pennsylvania libraries is Directory of Libraries and Information Sources in the Philadelphia Area (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Special Libraries Association, Philadelphia Chapter, 1977; Family History Library book 974.811 J54s; film 1036557 item 9).

USGenWeb

http://www.usgenweb.com/

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.

Ohio River Valley Families

http://orvf.com/

A site for Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, West Virginia and Illinois family history research Contains 13,035 related family members dating back to the 15th century.

Friends Historical Library

Established in 1871, Friends Historical Library is located on the campus of Swarthmore College in suburban Philadelphia and is open to the public. Its mission is to document the history of the Society of Friends (Quakers) and its concerns from the 17th century to the present.

Friends Historical Library
Swarthmore College
500 College Avenue
Swarthmore, PA 19081

Phone: (610) 328-8496
Fax: (610) 690-5728
Email: friends@swarthmore.eduFamilySearch™

Internet http://www.swarthmore.edu/fhl.xml

Family History Library

familysearch.org

FamilySearch, a collection of computer files containing several million names, is a good place to begin your research. Some of the records come from compiled sources; some have been automated from original sources.  Many have been indexed and are searchable online.