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United States California San Francisco County

County Courthouse

Quick Facts

Parent County

18 February 1850: San Francisco County was created as an original county. County seat: San Francisco ^[1] 

Boundary Changes

Record Loss

1906: Courthouse burned and many records were damaged in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. For further information on researching in burned counties, see the following:

• Burned Counties Research

• http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=2424[1]]

[2]Places/Localities

Populated Places

Neighboring Counties

• Alameda

• Marin

• San Mateo 

Resources

Archives and Libraries

Cemeteries 

San Francisco California Area Funeral Home Records: A free internet index and images to the California, San Francisco Funeral Home Records can be viewed on the FamilySearch Historical Record Collections website. For a description of the collection see San Francisco California Area Funeral Home Records.

Census

Federal

1850 (1851) for the county is missing.

Church History and Records

LDS Ward and Branch Records

• Balboa

• Mission

• San Francisco

• Sunset (San Francisco)

Disasters  

Earthquake

Emigration and Immigration  

• Angels Island Immigration Station - This site gives the history of the Landmark near San Francisco that was known as the “Ellis Island of the West”. When Angels Island was opened in 1910, it was expected to handle European immigrants headed for California via the Panama Canal. Instead, the facility handled about 250,000 immigrants from Asia, 70 percent of them were Chinese. While records aren’t searchable here, you will get a good insight into what those who were detained at Angels Island went through to enter the United States. Site provides links to sources that are available for researching ancestors.

History 

Land and Property  

The Family History Library has copies of original pre-statehood records for San Francisco, 1838 to 1851, on 21 films. These include Spanish grants and early Alcalde deeds. The original records are at the San Francisco County Courthouse. After the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, a law was passed to establish the ownership of land. A claimant filed the proper papers with the superior court, which, if approved, gave him title to the land. These claims are called the McInerney actions. The original records are at the San Francisco County Courthouse. The Family History Library has copies of these claims for the years 1906 to 1984 on 880 microfilm rolls. They are indexed by the name of the plaintiff (claimant). 

Maps

For historical maps,search the following free sites:

• Maps-Historical-Sate of California, the Carlifornia government's site.  Links to American Memory (Library of Congress), California Missions, and the State Library

• Historical Maps of California

• California Maps - HSU Library, also lists and links to gazetteers

• David Rumsey Collection for San Francisco, California

• California Perry-Castaneda Map Collection

• USGS Topographic Maps of California topographical maps of California mountains, rivers, etc., try the sites listed at  

Military History and Records

Newspapers

Probate Records

Taxation

Vital Records  

The San Francisco Department of Public Health has birth and death records since April 1906. You can obtain an informational copy for a fee by mailing the application (Birth Application, Death Application) with your payment and a self-addressed stamped envelope. As with other California counties, you only need to get the form notarized if you want a certified copy. Informational copies do not need a notary. Mail the application to: San Francisco Public Health Department
Office of Vital Records
101 Grove St., Room 105
San Francisco, CA 94102

San Francisco Funeral Home Records

Societies, Libraries and Museums

Websites  

• San Francisco Genealogy (sfgenealogy)

• Golden Nugget Library

• San Francisco County CAGenWeb

• Linkpendium

• USGenWeb Archives

• USGenWeb Archives backup site

• FamilySearch Family History Library Catalog  

References