County historical societies hold great wealth for genealogy research

How many of you have done research at a county historical society? Whether you have already done some or not, this is a good time to check out the website, blog, Facebook page, other social media, or newsletter related to some of your U.S. ancestral counties. You may find family files, county record books, newspaper indexes, county history indexes, maps, census abstracts and indexes, cemetery records, city and county directories, vital records, local business records, tax records, clippings scrapbooks, and school records. Of course, each one you seek will have different research items, but all are worth a look. Much of what they hold has not been digitized, but bless those with online indexes, descriptions of holdings, and a really helpful website.

To whet your appetite, here are a handful of Minnesota county level historical society research library websites. Many require an advance appointment for in-person research.

© 2023, Paula Stuart-Warren. All rights reserved.

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2 comments on “County historical societies hold great wealth for genealogy research

  1. I am very proud to add the Grant County Historical Society in Elbow Lake, MN, to this list. We have so much information and our curator, Patty Benson, is an awesome source all by herself! Check us out at gchsmn.org!

  2. I’m a volunteer at our local historical society. You’re right – we have some great hidden gems in our files.

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