California Church Records

Boscana, Geronimo (1776-1831), A New Original Version of Boscana's Historyical Account of the San Juan Capistrano Indians of Southern California. Ann Arbor, Mich. 1974. FHL Collection

Roman Catholic

The first Catholic missions were organized in 1769. Most of the mission records begin in 1770 and are on film. The Family History Library and the Bancroft Library have extensive collections of the early records. For the index to these records, see:

Temple, Thomas W. An Alphabetical Listing of the California Mission Vital Records. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1985. FHL Collection 1307621 item 4; fiche 6047009

The following sources may help you find Catholic mission records:

Weber, Francis J. A Select Guide to California Catholic History. Los Angeles, Calif.: Westernlore Press, 1966. FHL Collection 979.4 K21c
Bowman, J.N. "The Parochial Books of the California Missions, 1961," The Quarterly (Historical Society of Southern California)], Vol. 43, No. 3. FHL Collection 979.4 B2s
Barton, Noel R. "Genealogical Research in the Records of the California Missions," Genealogical Journal, Vol. 4, No. 1. FHL Collection 973 D25gj v. 3-4 (1974-1975)

Many original mission records and other Catholic records have been gathered into central repositories. These include:

Santa Barbara (Old Mission)

Old Mission Santa Barbara
2201 Laguna Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
Phone: (805) 682-4713
E-mail: research@sbmal.org

A guide to this extensive collection is:

Geiger, Maynard J. Calendar of Documents in the Santa Barbara Mission Archives. Washington: Academy of American Franciscan History, 1947. FHL Collection 979.491 A5. Contact the Santa Barbara Mission Archives to ask if a more recent list has been compiled.

Diocese of Fresno Archives
1550 North Fresno Street
Fresno, CA 93703-3788
Phone: (559) 488-3788

The diocese includes the counties of: Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare.^[2]

Archdiocese of Los Angeles
3424 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90010-2202
Phone: (213) 637-7000
E-mail: info@la-archdiocese.org

Archival Center for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
15151 San Fernando Mission Boulevard
Mission Hills, CA 91345
Phone: (818) 365-1501
Fax: (818) 361-3276

The Archdiocese includes the counties of: Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura.^[2]

Diocese of Monterey
P.O. Box 2048
Monterey, CA 93942
Phone: (831) 373-4345

The diocese includes the counties of: Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito and San Luis Obispo.^[2]

Diocese of Oakland
2121 Harrison St., Sutie 100
Oakland, CA 94612
Phone: (510) 893-4711

The diocese includes the counties of: Alameda and Contra Costa.^[2]

Diocese of Orange
2811 East Villa Real Drive
Orange, CA 92867-1999
Phone: (714) 282-3000

Mailing Address
P.O. Box 14195
Orange, CA 92863-1595

The diocese includes the county of: Orange.^[2]

Diocese of Sacramento Historical Archives
2110 Broadway
Sacramento, CA 95818
Phone: (916) 733-0299

The diocese includes the counties of: Amador, Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity and Yolo.^[2]

Diocese of San Bernardino Archives Office
1201 E. Highland Ave.
San Bernardino, CA 92404
Phone: (909) 475-5399

The diocese includes the counties of: Riverside and San Bernardino.^[2]

Diocese of San Diego
3888 Paducah Drive
San Diego, CA 92117

Mailing Address
P.O. Box 85728
San Diego, CA 92186-5728
Phone: (858) 490-8200
Fax: (858) 490-8272

The diocese includes the counties of: Imperial and San Diego.^[2]

Archdiocese of San Francisco Archives
St. Patrick Seminary
320 Middlefield Road
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Phone: (650) 328-6502

The Archdiocese includes the counties of: Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo.^[2]

Diocese of San Jose
1150 North 1st Street, Suite 100
San Jose, CA 95112-4966
Phone: (408) 983-0295

The diocese includes the county of: Santa Clara.^[2]

Diocese of Santa Rosa
985 Airway Court
Santa Rosa, CA 95403
Phone: (707) 545-7610

Mailing Address
P.O. Box 1297
Santa Rosa, CA 95402

The diocese includes the counties of: DelNorte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma.^[2]

Diocese of Stockton
1105 North Lincoln Street
Stockton, CA 95203
Phone: (209) 466-0636

The diocese includes the counties of: Alpine, Calaveras, Mono, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tuolumne.^[2]

Methodist

Holt-Atherton Church Archives
University of the Pacific
3601 Pacific Avenue
Stockton, CA 95211
Phone: (209) 946-2404
Fax: (209) 946-2810

Presbyterian

San Francisco Theological Seminary Library
105 Seminary Road
San Anselmo, CA 94960
Phone: (415) 451-2845

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Region 2 Archives(Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming)
Carol Schmalenberger
ELCA Region 2 Archives
Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary
2770 Marin Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94708-1597
(510) 524-5264
E-mail: archives@plts.edu

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)

	The usage of "Mormon" and "LDS" on this page is approved according to current policy.

Early, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church records for California Wards and Branches can be found on film and are located at the Family History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City. The film numbers, for each ward, can be locate through the FamilySearch Catalog. Or by refering to Jaussi, Laureen R., and Gloria D. Chaston. Register of Genealogical Society Call Numbers. 2 vols. Provo, Utah: Genealogy Tree, 1982. (FHL book 979.2258 A3j; fiche 6031507). These volumes contain the film numbers for many (but not all) membership and temple record films

A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:

California Births and Christenings (FamilySearch Historical Records).

References

↑ Sydney E. Ahlstrom, A Religious History of the American People (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1972). FHL Book 973 K2ah.
↑ ^2.00 ^2.01 ^2.02 ^2.03 ^2.04 ^2.05 ^2.06 ^2.07 ^2.08 ^2.09 ^2.10 ^2.11 Map of the Roman Catholic Dioceses in the United States of America, Office of Catholic Schools Diocese of Columbus, accessed 3 Nov 2010.

[1] Sydney E. Ahlstrom, A Religious History of the American People (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1972). FHL Book 973 K2ah.

[rome-2] 2.00 ^2.01 ^2.02 ^2.03 ^2.04 ^2.05 ^2.06 ^2.07 ^2.08 ^2.09 ^2.10 ^2.11 Map of the Roman Catholic Dioceses in the United States of America, Office of Catholic Schools Diocese of Columbus, accessed 3 Nov 2010.

[1]

[2]