Many United States land records are now being indexed, digitized, and copies made available on the Internet. The majority of land records still are only on film or in manuscript form, but more are being put on the Internet each month. Below is information about some of these records that are now available online.
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is indexing the homestead files for the 30 states involved with homesteads. This index can be searched at https://glorecords.blm.gov/default.aspx. Using the information on this site, you can order the case file that often has lots of information about the homesteading family.
Pennsylvania
Many Pennsylvania land records have been scanned and are now searchable on the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission website. These include Warrant Registers, 1733-1957, Patent Indexes, 1684-1957, and Philadelphia Old Rights (Index), 1682-1745. Also on the site are indexes of marriages, plus indexes, and card files for military records of several wars. The Family History Library has copies of many of these records, including over 1,000 microfilms of state land records. For more information, see the Pennsylvania Land and Property article in the FamilySearch Research Wiki.
Virginia
The Library of Virginia has an index to land patents and grants of the Virginia Land Office, some going back to the 1600s. For more information about Virginia land records and where to find them, see the Virginia Land and Property article in the FamilySearch Research Wiki.
Massachusetts
Land records for Massachusetts are kept by land districts. Most land districts are by county, however three counties have more than one land district. The land districts are indexing and digitizing their land records and putting them on the Internet. See the Registry of Deeds website for links to the county indexes. For additional information about Massachusetts land records, see the Massachusetts Land and Property article in the FamilySearch Research Wiki.
Further Information
More information about U.S. land records can be found by searching the FamilySearch Research Wiki at https://wiki.familysearch.org for the name of the state and the word “land.”
Good luck in searching land records!
