Chattanooga Tennessee Family History Center

Whether you are just beginning to trace your roots or need additional resources to complete your search, the Chattanooga Family History Center offers access to the extensive resources available through the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The FHC is maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a research facility and is staffed by local volunteers. The Chattanooga Family History Center is open to the general public and admission is free of charge.

Center Contacts and Hours

 * 1) 3067 Ooltewah Ringgold Road, Ooltewah, TN 
 * 2) Map
 * 3) The FHC is inside the rear entrance, first door on the left.
 * 4) Phone: 423-892-7632
 * 5) E-mail:  [mailto:tn_chattanooga@ldsmail.net tn_chattanooga@ldsmail.net]

The Center follows the Hamilton County Inclement Weather closing schedule.


Collections

 * Family History Library Catalog: This center has the ability to order any of the films and fiche available through the Family History Library Catalog.
 * Leonardo Andrea Collection -- 90 microfilm comprising folders of genealogical work on about 900 families collected by the late Leonardo Andrea, a famous South Carolinian genealogist. We also have other films containing all of his other books and works.
 * McCubbins' Collection -- 76 microfilm of original and typescript holdings on the Rowan County, NC Public Library @ Salisbury. The first three films index the rest of the collection.
 * Guion Miller Records -- This is a rather unique collection for our center -- relating to the enrollment of Eastern Cherokee, 1908 to 1910. This collection contains almost 400 rolls of microfilm. We have most of these films and continue to add to the collection.
 * Patrons' Microfiche Collection -- a collection of fiche ordered by our patrons, assorted titles. Contain family histories, vital records, and other types of information. These are indexed in the blue binders in the bookcase.
 * Indefinite Film Collection -- a collection of films on a variety of subjects, to include vital records, county records, court records, etc. They are indexed by state and then by county in the "state binders" in the bookcase.

Databases and Software
FHC Portal: This center has access to the Family History Center Portal page which gives free access in the center to premium family history software and websites that generally charge for subscriptions, including Ancestry.com, Heritage Quest, etc.

Ancestral Quest -- Offers all of the basic features of other top genealogy programs -- multiple views, source documentation, a wide variety of reports and charts, web page creation, multimedia scrapbook features, merge capabilities and organization tools.

Family Insight by Ohana Software • Is a “PAF Add-in” – Adds a menu item to PAF • Or can be launched stand-alone • Replaces and includes the product called PAF Insight: o Family Insight searches New.FamilySearch.org • Synchronize your PAF data with New Family Search Generation Maps -- A program that will take the info from your family tree program (PAF, GED, Legacy, Ancestral Quest, Rootsmagic, New.FamilySearch.com, etc) and put everyone on a big chart, where you can see them and begin to fit all the families together.

Get My Ancestors -- Download multiple generations your family tree from the FamilySearch family tree. This file will include basic events such as birth, Christening, Death, Burial and Marriage. Find a specific person and download his or her family tree and sync with your current file. Save a file as a Personal Ancestral File (PAF) database. Files created work with Personal Ancestral File 5 and FamilyInsight. Works with both Mac and Windows machines. This is a free utility courtesy of Ohana Software. Map My Family Tree -- A Genealogy mapping product that presents your ancestors' lives on a map. Reads your genealogy file and automatically plots all ancestral life events on customizable color maps. Allows you to see where your ancestors were born, married, and died. Track family migrations using the world and country maps. Zoom into any part of the world to see detailed events in that particular location. Choose from 15 different map styles. Print your maps.

Ordinance Tracker by Ohana Software -- An ordinance organization and tracking tool. Works directly with new.familysearch.org and can be used along side any database program. 

Hardware and Equipment
The center has 3-4 desktop computers with dedicated printers, several microfiche readers, 5 overhead microfilm readers, 1 Minolta microflim/fiche copier, 1 Canon microfilm/fiche scanner with printer connection, 1 copy/scan/fax machine. 

Links
Hamilton County Bicentennial Library: www.lib.chattanooga.gov/localHist/guide.html

Hamilton County Genealogical Society: www.hctgs.org/

Chattanooga Area Historical Association: www.chattahistoricalassoc.org/index.htm

Tennessee Vital Records Office: health.state.tn.us/vr/ 

Volunteer at the Center
To volunteer, contact the FHC directors at the telephone or e-mail listed above. 