Guilford County, North Carolina Genealogy

United States   North Carolina    Guilford County

Parent County
1770--Guilford County was created 5 December 1770 from Orange and Rowan Counties, but it did not start administration of its territory until 1 April 1771, so no Guilford records exist before that date.

County seat: Greensboro

Boundary Changes
The law creating Guilford County was passed in 1770, and the county started administration of its territory on April 1, 1771. Any land records prior to that time will be in the records of other counties. Approximately, the western two-thirds of the county came from Rowan County, and the eastern one-third came from Orange County. Rowan was created in 1753 from Anson County, and Orange was created in 1752 from parts of Johnston, Bladen, and Granville counties.

"Old Guilford County" was three times larger than present-day Guilford County, since Randolph County was created from the southern third of Guilford in 1779, and Rockingham County was created from the northern third of Old Guilford in 1785.

Record Loss
1872--Courthouse fire resulted in some loss of records.

Neighboring Counties

 * Alamance
 * Davidson
 * Forsyth
 * Randolph
 * Rockingham
 * Stokes

Cemeteries

 * Search Greensboro Cemeteries, a growing index to many cemeteries in Guilford County.
 * Union Cemetery is one of the most important burial sites for African Americans in Guilford County. The list is of all marked graves. It has been in use since the 1880s.
 * Guilford NCGenWeb index of cemeteries.

Church
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Greensboro

Court

 * Guilford NCGenWeb Court and Land Records page

Land

 * Guilford NCGenWeb Court and Land Records page

Local Histories

 * Arnett, Ethel Stephens, Greensboro, North Carolina: The County Seat of Guilford, Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 1955, 1983 (excerpt)
 * Arnett, Ethel Stephens, The Saura and Keyauwee in the Land that Became Guilfod, Randolph, and Rockingham, Greensboro, North Carolina: Media, 1975.
 * Batchelor, John, The Guilford County Schools: A History, Winston-Salem, North Carolina: John F. Blair, 1991.
 * Bowles, David, Spring House (Book 1 in the Westward Sagas), Plum Creek Press, 2006.
 * Greensboro Business Directory, 1886 (GenWeb Archives)
 * Guilford County Bicentennial Commission, Guilford County, a Brief History, Greensboro, North Carolina: Guilford County Bicentennial Commission, 1971.
 * Guilford County, NC GenWeb Local History (includes links to book excerpts)
 * Hatch, Charles E., Jr., The Battle of Guilford Courthouse, Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, 1971.
 * Haworth, Cecil E., Deep River Friends: A Valiant People, Greensboro, North Carolina: North Carolina Friends Historical Society, 1985.
 * Haworth, Sara A., Springfield, 1773-1940: A History of the Establishment and Growth of the Springfield Monthly Meeting of Friends, High Point, North Carolina: Barber-Hall Printing Company, 1940.
 * High Point Business Directory, 1886 (GenWeb Archives)
 * Hughes, Fred, Guilford County: A Map Supplement, The Custom House, 1988. (Google Books link)
 * Jordan, Pauls Stahls, Women of Guilford County, North Carolina: A Study of Women's Contributions, 1740-1979, Greensboro, North Carolina: Women of Guilford, 1979.
 * Kars, Marjoleine, Breaking Loose Together: The Regulator Rebellion in Pre-Revolutionary North Carolina.
 * Pegg, William Wesley, Sr., Something of the Story of Deep River, Greensboro, North Carolina: Self-published, 1980.
 * Robinson, Blackwell P., and Alexander R. Stoesen, ed. by Sydney M. Cone, Jr., The History of Guilford County, North Carolina, U.S.A. to 1980, A.D., 1981.
 * Salsi, Lynn, and Burke Salsi, Guilford County: Heart of the Piedmont (The Making of America series), Arcadia Publishing, 2002. (Google Books link)
 * Scarlette, Gladys, Summerfield, North Carolina: A Pictorial History, Greensboro, North Carolina: Younts, 1995.
 * Sharpe, Stella Gentry, Tobe, Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 1939.
 * Sloan, John Alexander, Reminiscences of the Guilford Grays, Co. B, 27th N.C. Regiment, Washington, D.C.: R.C. Polkinhorn, 1883.
 * Stockard, Sallie Walker, The History of Guilford County, North Carolina, 1902 (complete text in Google Books) (complete text in Internet Archive)
 * Stoesen, Alexander R., Guilford County: A Brief History, 2000 (Google Books link) (NC Office of Archives &amp; History Publications Shop)
 * Teague, Bobbie T., Cane Creek: Mother of Meetings, North Carolina Friends Historical Society, 1995.
 * Weatherly, Andrew Earl, The First Hundred Years of Historic Guilford, 1771-1871, Greensboro, North Carolina: Greensboro Print Company, 1972.
 * Zopf, Paul E., The People of Guilford: Growth and Changes in the Population of Guilford County, Greensboro, North Carolina: Chamber of Commerce, 1972.

Maps

 * Some maps are linked to this page: Guilford NCGenWeb page on local history

Military

 * Guilford NCGenWeb page on military records
 * At the Greensboro Library page, Scroll down for the index of names in the book, Biographical Sketches of soldiers &amp; patriots in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse: March 15, 1781.
 * Guilford County Men &amp; Women Who Served in World War II

Newspapers

 * Greensboro News &amp; Record

Vital Records
Online index to Guilford County marriage and death records can be found at the Greensboro Library Web site.

Yearbooks

 * Greensboro College: 1908-2005
 * Guilford College: 1911-2005
 * High Point University: 1927-2007
 * North Carolina Agricultural &amp; Technical College: 1929-2009
 * UNC-Greensboro: 1902-1993


 * Guilford County students at North Carolina colleges - a list alphabetized by surname from the NCGenWeb Yearbook Index

Societies and Libraries

 * Friends Historical Collection at Guilford College
 * Greensboro Libraries
 * Greensboro Libraries: Central Library (includes the Genealogy Collection), 219 No. Church St.
 * Greensboro Libraries: Genealogy
 * Guilford County Genealogical Society
 * High Point Library Public Library &amp; its Heritage Research Center
 * Penny Postcards from North Carolina: Guilford County
 * UNC-Chapel Hill Library's North Carolina Collection, Guilford County materials

Web Sites

 * African Americans in Guilford County
 * Family History Catalog: Guilford County, North Carolina
 * Guilford County Genealogy (North Carolina Genealogy)
 * Guilford County Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Guilford County Historic Preservation Commission
 * Guilford County Markers (The Historical Marker Database)
 * Guilford County, North Carolina (RootsWeb)
 * Guilford County, North Carolina (Wikipedia)
 * Guilford County, North Carolina GenWeb (has a lot of information on its website)
 * Guilford County, North Carolina GenWeb Archives
 * Guilford County, North Carolina History, Records, Facts, Genealogy and Ancestry (Family History 101)
 * Guilford County Website: History
 * History of Guilford County, North Carolina (with several biographies)
 * The History of Guilford County, North Carolina (GenGateway)
 * History of the Sheriffs of Guilford (Guilford County Sheriff's Office)
 * Librarian's Guide to Guilford County, NC: History Page
 * Local History Books: Guilford County
 * North Carolina - Guilford County (National Register of Historic Places)