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United States Archives
The U.S. government has entrusted to the
National Archives the responsibility of record keeping for
any individual having any sort of transaction with the
Federal government. If you're considering researching the
national archives then you should reflect on when your
ancestor may have come into contact with the Federal
government, and search through those specific datasets. The
types of data available from the national archives is as
follows: census, passenger arrival (immigration),
naturalization, land, and military records. Also, there are
records pertaining to the following groups of people:
Native, African, Japanese, Chinese, and Hispanic Americans.
The National Archives does have some data online, but
for the most part, their setup is antiquated, and their
data is available online elsewhere, including some of it
here at AccessGenealogy in a searchable format. NARA is
currently in partnerships with
Footnote and
Ancestry for both companies to scan the NARA images
and place them online in a searchable format.
Unfortunately, in both cases, the data will cost you to gain
access, unlike the free access you can find at one of
the regional centers below.
FamilySearch is also placing some data online, which
is available for free, but
so far, I can only find the census material, and that is
presently limited to a few decades.
In addition to the
National Archives
located in Washington DC, there are 15 more regional
archive centers which are each devoted to specific
states. These archives hold records specific to their
region, for instance, shipping manifests for ports which
are located in the region they cover. Before visiting
the regional archives in your vicinity, we suggest you
thoroughly research what material is available.
NARA Regional Centers
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North East Region
- Boston, MA (CT, ME, MA, NH,
RI, and VT)
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North East Region - Pittsfield, MA (no original
records, only microfilms related to genealogy)
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North East Region - NYC, NY (NY, NJ, Puerto
Rico, and Virgin Islands)
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Mid Atlantic Region - Philadelphia, PA (DE, MD,
PA, VA, and WV)
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Southeast Region - Morrow, GA (AL, FL, GA, KY,
MI, NC, SC, TN)
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Great Lakes Region - Chicago, IL (IL, IN, MI,
MN, OH, and WI)
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Central Plains Region - Kansas City, MO (IO, KS,
MO, and NE)
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Central Plains Region - Lee's Summit, MO (NY,
NJ, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands)
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Southwest Region - Fort Worth, TX (AR, LA, NM,
OK, and TX)
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Rocky Mountain Region - Denver, CO (CO, MT, ND,
SD, UT, and WY)
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Pacific Region - Laguna Niguel, CA (AZ, southern
CA, and Clark County, NV)
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Pacific Region - San Francisco, CA (CA except
southern CA, HI, NV except Clark County, American
Samoa, and Guam)
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Pacific Alaska Region - Seattle, WA (ID, OR, and
WA)
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Pacific Alaska Region - Anchorage, AK (AK)
State and Local Archives Directory
See Also:
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