Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Genealogy


 * This article is about a southwestern Pennsylvania county. For other uses, see Allegheny.

United States Pennsylvania  Allegheny County

County Courthouse
436 Grant St. Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Phone: (412) 350-6500 FAX:(412) 350-6512

Parent County
Allegheny County was created 24 Sepetember 1788 from Westmoreland and Washington Counties.

==== Boundary Changes ====


 * Allegheny County was disputed between Virginia and Pennsylvania until the Mason-Dixon Line was finalized in 1780.
 * 1750: Southern half of Allegheny County was included in Cumberland County when Cumberland was created in 1750; northern half of Allegheny County was not included in any county until 1785.
 * 1771: Southern half of Allegheny County was included in Bedford County when Bedford County was created out of Cumberland County in 1771.
 * 1773: Southern half of Allegheny County was included in Westmoreland County when Westmoreland was created out of Bedford county in 1773.
 * 1783: Northern half of Allegheny became part of Depreciation Lands; part of the southern half of Allegheny County became part of Washington County when Washington County was created in 1781, while the rest remained part of Westmoreland County.
 * 1785: Northern half of Allegheny was annexed to Northumberland County.
 * 24 September 1788, Allegheny County was created from parts of Washington and Westmoreland counties.
 * 12 March 1800, Allegheny Co. boundaries were finalized as it appears today after the parts were set to form Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Crawford, Erie, Mercer, Venango and Warren counties.

Populated Places
Pittsburgh, Forest Hills, Aleppo, Leet, Versailles, Braddock, more...

Neighboring Counties
Armstrong | Beaver | Butler | Washington | Westmoreland

Cemeteries
Allegheny County Cemeteries Plum Creek Cemetery, Plum BillionGraves Saint Anne Cemetery, Castle Shannon BillionGraves

USGenWeb Archives Allegheny County Cemetery Projects

Census

 * U.S. Census Schedules - University of Pittsburgh for Allegheny City 1850, 1860, and 1870 and for Pittsburgh 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880. There is no coverage for schedules outside these two cities.

Church History and Records
Catholic


 * Roman Catholic- Diocese of Pittsburgh Archives and Records Center
 * Father Peter Helbron's baptismal register, on microfilm from Family History Centers.

German

Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University

Jewish


 * Rodef Shalom, oldest Jewish congregation in Western Pennsylvania
 * Rauh Jewish Archivesat the Heinz History Center

LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Family History Centers
 * Pittsburg
 * Wilson

Methodist


 * The Smeltzer Bell Research Center at Allegheny College

Presbyterian


 * Pittsburgh Presbytery

Learn if the records of the individual parish or Church your ancestors attended are available.

Court
Department of Court Records Wills/Orphans' Court

Directories
Fold3 ($) has Pittsburgh City Directories 1861-1923 (3 yrs. missing) available online.

"Historic Pittsburgh - Full Text Collection" has Pittsburgh City and Allegheny City Directories (and outlying areas) from 1815 through 1930. Directories were not issued annually until the mid-1850s. Homestead Directories may be found on the same site.

Land
In 2008 the Recorder of Deeds became the Department of Real Estate. All power and authority previously vested in the Recorder of Deeds was transfered to the Department of Real Estate.

Free on-line indexes are available, however there is a charge to view the actual documents. Indexes are available for 1986 to the present. Imaged deeds are available for 1994 to the present. Imaged mortgages are available for 1995 to the present.


 * Historic Pittsburgh has posted the 1914 Warrantee Atlas of Allegheny County which shows the earliest landowners of the current county.  These  maps of each township were drawn using the earliest surveys, warrants and patents of the original owers of land within the county.

Local Histories

 * Over 950 fully-searchable books and published works covering much of western Pennsylvania have been posted online at Historic Pittsburgh, nosted by the University of Pittsburgh's Digital Library

Maps

 * Pittsburgh and Allegheny City 1856 from the David Rumsey Map Collection.

Military
Civil War

"Black Civil war Soldiers, Allegheny County Pennsylvania. " Hively, Henry. Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society Quartly. 17 v, no 1. (Summer 1990):39 FHL Book 974.B2wg

Newspapers

 * University of Pittsburgh's Hillman Library for old newspapers.
 * Allegheny Times - full-text digital issues in Google News Archive; covers 1988-2008
 * Pittsburgh Post-Gazetteis available on Google News Archive. It covers 1916 through 2007

Probate
Department of Court Records Wills/Orphans' Court

Vital Records
■The Family History Library (FHL): See the catalog Pennsylvania, Allegheny- Vital Records.

Births and Death:

Pittsburgh City Deaths, 1870-1905, FamilySearch Historical Record Collections  -Free.

Birth and death records from 1870 to 1905, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

Birth records from 1893 to 1905, Registrar of Wills.

For birth and death records after 1905, Vital Records.

Marriages:

Pennsylvania Marriages, 1885-1950 (over 438,000 for Allegheny County) with images, FamilySearch Historical Record Collections - Free

Some marriage records (along with military, tax, and land records), 1664-1780, Pennsylvania Archives, Fold3 -- Free.

Marriage notices from newspapers index, 1786-1910; Pennsylvania Marriage records,1852-1854; and Allegheny County Marriages index, 1885-1925, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

Allegheny county began recording marriage licenses in 1885. Marriage applications index, Office of Wills/Orphans' Court Division.

Societies and Libraries

 * Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh-Pennsylvania Department
 * West Jefferson Hills Historical Society
 * Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society
 * North Hills Genealogists
 * Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Family History Center (Greentree)
 * Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 3rd Family History Center (Plum Borough)

Web Sites

 * Linkpendium - Allegheny County
 * The Allegheny County PAGenWeb Project, a member of The PAGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Allegheny County
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Allegheny County (backup site)