Georgia Archives

United States Georgia  Archives and Libraries  

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Contact Information
Website: www.GeorgiaArchives.org

Address: 5800 Jonesboro Road Morrow, GA 30260

Telephone: 678-364-3710 Fax:  678-364-3860

Hours and holidays: Tuesday through Saturday 8:30 am to 5:00 pm

As of July 1, 2013, the Georgia Archives was transferred to the University System of Georgia, which helped ease budgetary concerns.

Directions, maps, and public transportation: From anywhere in Metro Atlanta, take I-285 to exit 55, Jonesboro Road. From the east, turn left; from the west, turn right onto Jonesboro Road. Drive about 4 miles and the Archive will be on your left, just after Harper Drive. The Georgia Archive shares a parking lot with the National Archives at Atlanta branch and is the building on the right.

Internet sites and databases:


 * Georgia Archives - The Archive's website is filled with information to help visitors prepare and prep their research strategy before arriving
 * Finding Aids Catalog - Search the documents available in the Archive's original records
 * Georgia Archives GIL - Search available books and microfilm
 * Georgia's Virtual Vault - View select records held by the archives online
 * County Microfilm Index - Search available microfilm by County

Collection Description
The Georgia Archives holds state government records, and county records of Georgia. This is the place to start searching for early Georgia ancestors. They also have genealogies, county histories, newspapers, tax digests, private papers, church records, cemeteries, Bible records, a few municipal records, census, maps, land plats, photographs, Georgia Confederate service and pension records, colonial, headright, and bounty land grants, and land lottery records.

The Georgia Archives is overseen by the University System of Georgia. They are responsible for collecting and maintaining the historical records of Georgia government and history.


 * County Records On Microfilm - One of the largest collections of interest, comprising records created by Georgia counties until 1900. An index of records is maintained on a card catalog. Records include Wills, Marriage Records, Land Records, Minute Books, etc.
 * Books - The archive holds thousands of books covering all 50 states and a variety of genealogical topics.
 * Vertical Files - Miscellaneous records collected by the archive covering a variety of topics, including cemeteries, war, and specific surnames.
 * General Name Card Files - A card catalog of select individuals found in the records of the archive, mainly political or socially prominent individuals.

Georgia's Virtual Vault provides virtual access to historic Georgia manuscripts, photographs, maps, and government records housed in the state archives. It includes Colonial will books, Confederate pension applications, County maps, County tax digests, Georgia death certificates, headright and bounty plats, marriage records, Spanish-American War service summary cards and more.

Guides

 * Georgia Department of Archives and History. A Preliminary Guide to Eighteenth-Century Records Held by the Georgia Department of Archives and History (Atlanta, Ga.: GDAH, 1976)..
 * Robert Scott Davis Jr. Research in Georgia (Easley, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1981)..

Tips
Due to restricted hours, microfilm readers with computers and printers attached are in high demand. Users may have to wait or sign up in advance for the machines and will likely be limited to an hour's use at a time. Numerous older, hand crank machines are available, though less sought after.

Alternate Repositories
If you cannot visit or find a record at the , a similar record may be available at one of the following.

Overlapping Collections


 * National Archives I, Washington DC, census, pre-WWI military service &amp; pensions, passenger lists, naturalizations, passports, federal bounty land, homesteads, bankruptcy, ethnic sources, prisons, and federal employees.
 * National Archives at Atlanta federal censuses, Ancestry.com, military, pensions, bounty-land, photos, passengers lists, naturalizations, Native Americans, African Americans, and workshops.
 * Federal Records Center, Ellenwood, GA., receives federal agency and court records of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Similar Collections


 * Family History Library, Salt Lake City, 450 computers, 3,400 databases, 3.1 million microforms, 4,500 periodicals, 310,000 books of worldwide family and local histories, civil, church, immigration, ethnic, military, Mormon records. Many Georgia Archives  microfilms are also available at branch FamilySearch Centers  in local LDS churches, and described in their online FamilySearch Catalog.
 * Dallas Public Central Library 111,700 volumes, 64,500 microfilms, 89,000 microfiche, and over 700 maps, marriage, probate, deed, and tax abstracts in book form, or microfilm of originals for some states, and online databases including Georgia and other Southern states.

Neighboring Collections


 * Atlanta-Fulton Public Library Central Library, large collection with good coverage of the southeast USA. They have county histories, family histories, will indexes, deeds, military rosters, passenger lists, Atlanta city directories, Georgia censuses 1820-1930, local histories, and newspapers.
 * Atlanta History Center, Kenan Research Center, extensive Georgia family and county histories, Sons of the American Revolution library, holdings for North and South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama genealogy.
 * Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Atlanta, members, meetings, newsletter, surname queries, links.
 * Jewish Genealogical Society of Georgia, Atlanta, family histories, immigration, East Europe, Georgia, North America.
 * Jimmy Carter Library and Museum, Atlanta, papers of the administration.
 * Atlanta Area Family History Centers, can order microfilms from Salt Lake City for a small fee.
 * Fulton County Health Department, Atlanta, births since 1896, deaths since 1887.
 * Clayton County Clerk of the Probate Court, Jonesboro, county birth, marriage, death, and probate records.
 * Clayton County Clerk of the Superior Court, Jonesboro, land records, and divorces since 1859, and court records since 1964.
 * Repositories in surrounding counties: DeKalb, Fayette, Fulton, Henry, and Spalding.
 * Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, 4 million manuscripts, photos, papers, military, diaries, plantation records. They have almost as many genealogical sources as the Georgia Archives.
 * Georgia Genealogical Society, Atlanta, events, meetings, membership, publications and index, and research tools, but no library.
 * University of Georgia Main Library, Athens, largest collection for early Georgia settlers. Also, they hold county histories, county records, family records, biographies and newspapers.
 * Repositories in other surrounding states: Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
 * Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH), Montgomery, military and state censuses, county records on microfilm, family histories, and newspapers.
 * State Archives of Florida, Tallahassee, public records, family/county histories, Memory Project.
 * North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, has so many county court records they have not all been cataloged, NC government records at the state, district, and county levels, maps, war records.
 * South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, county, district, colonial, state records, censuses, wills, Confederate penions, criminals, and land grants.
 * Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, vital records, censuses, county records, tax lists, local histories, school censuses, military records, Native Americans, newspapers, obituary lists, and maps.