Handley Regional Library • FamilySearch

Handley Regional Library

Contact Information

Address: 100 W. Piccadilly St., Winchester, VA 22601
Telephone: 540 662-9041, ext. 17
Email: archives@handleyregional.org
Website: https://www.handleyregional.org/archives
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/handleyregional
Hours of Operation: https://www.handleyregional.org/locations/handley
:Please note, the Reading Room will close for lunch daily from 12:30 PM to 1:15 PM. Directions/Parking Map: https://www.handleyregional.org/locations/handley

Description of Collections

Neighboring Repositories

Clarke County Historical Association, Clarke County, Virginia
Truban Archive at the Shenandoah County Library, Shenandoah County, Virginia
Warren Heritage Society, Warren County, Virginia
Berkeley County Historical Society Archives, Berkeley County, West Virginia
Jefferson County Historical Society, Jefferson County, West Virginia
Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, Virginia
Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society
Winchester and Frederick County Court

State Repositories

Office of Vital Records, Virginia
Virginia Museum of History & Culture (formerly Virginia Historical Society)
Library of Virginia

Services

The Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, located at the Handley Library in Winchester, Virginia, is a local history and genealogy center focused on the history of the City of Winchester and Frederick County, Virginia, and to a lesser extent, surrounding counties. Its collections include a variety of genealogical sources such as deeds and other property and land records; birth, death, and marriage records; published genealogies; tax lists; immigration, census, and court records; and other sources such a maps, manuscript collections, newspapers, and photographs. The collections include materials from the 1730s to the present. Researchers in the Reading Room may also access Ancestry, Fold 3 and Heritage Quest databases.

The Reading Room has two public computers for searching the catalog and other sources such as databases, indexes, and pathfinders. Two microfilm readers and a copier/scanner are available for researchers to use. Fees apply for paper copies. Researchers are encouraged to bring a flash drive to save copies of materials.

History

Tips for Your Visit

Plan Your Visit

v • d• e Links to Virginia-related articles (see also West Virginia-related articles)

Topics	Search Strategies • Record Finder • Introduction • African Americans • American Indians • Archives and Libraries • Bible Records • Biography • Cemeteries • Census • Church Records • Court Records • Digital Collections • Directories • Emigration and Immigration • Gazetteers • Genealogy • Heraldry • History • Land and Property • Law and Legislation • Maps • Military Records • Naturalization and Citizenship • Newspapers • Occupations • Online Records • Periodicals • Probate Records • Public Records • Schools • Societies • Taxation • Vital Records • Voting Records • For Further Reading

Counties	Accomack • Albemarle • Alleghany • Amelia • Amherst • Appomattox • Arlington • Augusta • Bath • Bedford • Bland • Botetourt • Brunswick • Buchanan • Buckingham • Campbell • Caroline • Carroll • Charles City • Charlotte • Chesterfield • Clarke • Craig • Culpeper • Cumberland • Dickenson • Dinwiddie • Essex • Fairfax • Fauquier • Floyd • Fluvanna • Franklin • Frederick • Giles • Gloucester • Goochland • Grayson • Greene • Greensville • Halifax • Hanover • Henrico • Henry • Highland • Isle of Wight • James City • King and Queen • King George • King William • Lancaster • Lee • Loudoun • Louisa • Lunenburg • Madison • Mathews • Mecklenburg • Middlesex • Montgomery • Nelson • New Kent • Northampton • Northumberland • Nottoway • Orange • Page • Patrick • Pittsylvania • Powhatan • Prince Edward • Prince George • Prince William • Pulaski • Rappahannock (New) • Richmond • Roanoke • Rockbridge • Rockingham • Russell • Scott • Shenandoah • Smyth • Southampton • Spotsylvania • Stafford • Surry • Sussex • Tazewell • Warren • Washington • Westmoreland • Wise • Wythe • York

Independent Cities	Alexandria • Bedford • Bristol • Buena Vista • Charlottesville • Chesapeake • Clifton Forge • Colonial Heights • Covington • Danville • Emporia • Fairfax • Falls Church • Franklin • Fredericksburg • Galax • Hampton • Harrisonburg • Hopewell • Lexington • Lynchburg • City of Manassas • Manassas Park • Martinsville • Newport News • Norfolk • Norton • Petersburg • Poquoson • Portsmouth • Radford • Richmond • Roanoke • Salem • Staunton • Suffolk • Virginia Beach • Waynesboro • Williamsburg • Winchester

Extinct Counties/Cities	Alexandria County • Dunmore • Elizabeth City • Fincastle • Illinois • Kentucky • Manchester • Nansemond • Norfolk • Norfolk (Lower) • Norfolk (New) • Norfolk (South) • Norfolk (Upper) • Princess Anne • Rappahannock (Old) • South Boston • Warwick • West Augusta • Yohogania

Counties gone to KY	Bourbon • Fayette • Jefferson • Kentucky (extinct) • Lincoln • Madison • Mason • Mercer • Nelson • Woodford

Counties gone to WV	Barbour • Berkeley • Boone • Braxton • Brooke • Cabell • Calhoun • Clay • Doddridge • Fayette • Gilmer • Greenbrier • Hampshire • Hancock • Hardy • Harrison • Jackson • Jefferson • Kanawha • Lewis • Logan • Marion • Marshall • Mason • McDowell • Mercer • Monongalia • Monroe • Morgan • Nicholas • Ohio • Pendleton • Pleasants • Pocahontas • Preston • Putnam • Raleigh • Randolph • Ritchie • Roane • Taylor • Tucker • Tyler • Upshur • Wayne • Webster • Wetzel • Wirt • Wood • Wyoming

Colonial Parishes	Abingdon • Accomac • Accomack • Albemarle • Amherst • Antrim • Appomattox • Argall's Gift • Augusta • Bath • Beckford • Berkeley • Blisland • Blount Point • Botetourt • Boutracy • Bristol • Bromfield • Brunswick • Bruton • Camden • Cameron • Charles City • Charles • Charles River • Chickacoan • Chickahominy • Chippokes • Chiskiack • Chotank • Christ Church (Lancaster Co.) • Christ Church (Middlesex Co.) • Chuckatuck • Cople • Cornwall • Cumberland • Dale • Denbigh • Dettingen • Drysdale • East • Elizabeth City • Elizabeth River • Fairfax • Fairfield • Farnham • Flowerdew Hundred • Fluvanna • Frederick • Fredericksville • Hamilton • Hampton • Hanover • Harrop • Henrico • Hog Island • Hungars • James City • Jordan's Journey • Kecoughtan • Kingston • King William • Lancaster • Lawnes Creek • Lee • Leeds • Lexington • Littleton • Lower (Elizabeth City Co.) • Lower (Isle of Wight Co.) • Lower (Lancaster Co.) • Lower (Nansemond Co.) • Lower (Northampton Co.) • Lower (Stafford Co.) • Lower (Upper Norfolk Co.) • Lower Suffolk • Lunenburg • Lynnhaven • Machodick • Manchester • Marston • Martin's Brandon • Martin's Hundred • Meherrin • Middle Plantation • Middletowne • Montgomery • Mulberry Island • New Poquoson • Newport • Nomini • Norborne • Northampton • North Farnham • Nottoway (Prince Edward Co.) • Nottoway (Southampton Co.) • Nutmeg Quarter • Occohannock • Overwharton • Patrick • Petsworth • Piankatank • Piscataway • Poropotank • Portsmouth • Potomac • Raleigh • Richmond • Rockbridge • Rockingham • Russell • St. Andrew's • St. Anne's (Albemarle Co.) • St. Anne's (Essex and Caroline Cos.) • St. Asaph's • St. Brides • St. David's • St. George's (Accomack Co.) • St. George's (Spotsylvania Co.) • St. James Northam • St. James Southam • St. James's (Goochland Co.) • St. James's (Mecklenburg Co.) • St. John's • St. Luke's • St. Margaret's • St. Mark's • St. Martin's • St. Mary's • St. Mary's Whitechapel • St. Patrick's • St. Paul's (Hanover Co.) • St. Paul's (King George Co.) • St. Peter's • St. Stephen's (King and Queen Co.) • St. Stephen's (Northumberland Co.) • St. Thomas • Shelburne • Sittenburne • Smith's Hundred • South • Southampton • South Farnham • Southwark • Stafford • Stanley Hundred • Stratton Major • Suffolk • Tillotson • Trinity (Lancaster Co.) • Trinity (Louisa Co.) • Truro • Upper (Elizabeth City Co.) • Upper (Isle of Wight Co.) • Upper (Lancaster Co.) • Upper (Nansemond Co.) • Upper (Northampton Co.) • Upper (Stafford Co.) • Upper Suffolk • Varina • Wallingford • Ware • Warrosquyoake • Warwick • Washington (Westmoreland Co.) • Washington (Washington Co.) • Waters Creek • West • West and Shirley • Westbury • Westover • Weyanoke • Wicomico • Wilmington • York • Yorkhampton

Major Repositories	Bristol Public Library · Germanna Foundation Library · Handley Regional Library · Historical Society of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA) · Historical Society of Washington, D.C. · John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library at Colonial Williamsburg · Jones Memorial Library · Library of Congress (Washington, DC) · Library of Virginia · Mary Ball Washington Museum and Library · Maryland State Archives (Annapolis, MD) · National Archives I (Washington, DC) · National Archives II (College Park, MD) · National Archives at Philadelphia (PA) · National Genealogical Society · New York Public Library (New York City, NY) · Pennsylvania State Archives (Harrisburg, PA) · Portsmouth Public Library · Roanoke County Public Library · Salisbury University Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture (Salisbury, MD) · Santa Cruz Public Library Downtown (Santa Cruz, CA) · University of Virginia Library · Virginia Department of Health · Virginia Historical Society · Virginia Theological Seminary · Washington National Records Center (Suitland, MD) · William and Mary College Swem Library

Migration Routes	Routes: Chesapeake Bay • James River • Potomac River • Rappahannock River • York River • Chesapeake and Ohio Canal • Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad • Fall Line Road (or Southern Road) • Great Indian Warpath • Great Trading Path • Great Valley Road • Kanawha Trail • King's Highway • National Road (Cumberland Road) • New River and Southern Trail • Occaneechi Path • Old Cherokee Path • Old Northwestern Turnpike • Pamunkey-New River Trail • Pioneer Road • Richmond Road • Richmond-Williamsburg Road • Saura-Saponi Trail • Secondary Coast Road • Upper Road • Wilderness Road • Wilmington, Highpoint, and Northern Trail • Ports: Atlantic Coast Ports • Accomack • Alexandria • Belvoir Plantation • Bermuda Hundred • Dumfries • Falmouth • Fredericksburg • Hampton • Jamestown • Leedstown • Norfolk • Port Royal • Portsmouth • South Quay • Suffolk • Tappahannock (aka Hobb's Hole) • Urbanna • Williamsburg • Yorktown