The following are recommended genealogy sources available online. Some notes on physical holdings at local institutions are available at the bottom of this page. – Keith L Greenawalt ([email protected])
FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org) – FamilySearch.org is a genealogy website that is operated Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, also called the Mormon Church. Many records and have been digitized by FamilySearch and are made freely available to the public.
Find-A-Grave (http://www.findagrave.com) – Find-A-Grave is a project to document gravestones in cemeteries all over the United States.
Pennsylvania State Archives – Ancestry.com – The Pennsylvania State Archives (http://www.phmc.pa.gov/Archives) has a partnership with Ancestry.com (http://www.phmc.pa.gov/Archives/Research-Online/Pages/Ancestry-PA.aspx) that digitizes select state records for public use. This service is free to Pennsylvania residents, but registration is required.
POWERLibrary PA Photos and Documents (https://powerlibrary.org/collections/) – This archive contains many different digital collections from numerous libraries across the Commonwealth, including the State Library of Pennsylvania (https://www.statelibrary.pa.gov/).
Online Books – Among the larger collections of free ebooks online include Google Books (http://books.google.com), HathiTrust Digital Library (http://www.hathitrust.org), Digital Public Library of America (http://www.dp.la), and the Internet Archives (http://www.archive.org).
Online Newspapers – Google Newspapers (http://news.google.com/newspapers) and The Library of Congress’ Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov) are the two best newspaper sources.
National Archives (http://www.nara.gov) – The best place to start for anything genealogy related is their genealogy page (http://www.archives.gov/research/genealogy). You can also search their digitized records and catalog through their catalog search page (http://catalog.archives.gov).
Library of Congress Digital Collections (http://loc.gov/collections)
USGenWeb Project (http://www.usgenweb.org) and PAGenWeb Project (http://www.pagenweb.org)
RootsWeb (http://www.rootsweb.com)
PA-Roots (http://www.pa-roots.org)
PA’s Past Digital Bookshelf (http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/digital/digitalbookshelf.html)
Ellis Island (http://www.libertyellisfoundation.org)
Cyndi’s List (http://www.cyndislist.com)
Genealogy for Kids: Building a Family Tree (https://www.aaastateofplay.com/genealogy-for-kids-building-a-family-tree/) – Added following a suggestion from the community.
Physical Resources Available at Local Institutions
Northern York County Historical and Preservation Society (NYCHAPS) (http://www.orthernyorkhistorical.org) has local cemetery records, obituary files, published PA archives, County histories, family histories, general historical books, and some local newspapers.
Society members are are free and non-members pay $3 per day. Appointments are required and can be made by calling office 717-502-1440 or emailing [email protected].
York County Libraries (http://www.yorklibraries.org), including the Dillsburg Area Public Library, have local history books and County histories availa. A catalog is available (https://york.sparkpa.org/eg/opac/home).
Unique among York County Libraries, Gutherie Memorial Library in Hanover has a special Pennsylvania Room (https://www.yorklibraries.org/hanover-guthrie/custom-service-offerings) that holds information mostly about Hanover and immediate surroundings. The room is manned by volunteers and is open around 13 hours a week. An online schedule is available on the Pennsylvania Room website. All items are listed in the York County Libraries catalog, though items are for reference only and do not circulates.