Genealogy & Local History Research

The Family History & Research Center offers individual assistance with family and local history research, as well as programs throughout the year that provide insight on a variety of topics related to genealogy research.

Online Resources

• Ancestry Library Edition: Ancestry Library Edition (ALE) gives individuals something truly priceless: the chapters of their own authentic, unique family stories. The world’s largest online collection of family history records and resources, ALE is a popular research tool. It offers a wide variety of unique content to help users trace their family lineage.
• HeritageQuest Online (Use this link INSIDE the library): HeritageQuest Online combines digital, searchable images of US Federal Census records with the digitized version of the popular UMI® Genealogy & Local History book collection, and other valuable content. HQO helps put family research in its historical, social and cultural context.
• HeritageQuest Online (Use this link OUTSIDE the library): HeritageQuest Online combines digital, searchable images of US Federal Census records with the digitized version of the popular UMI® Genealogy & Local History book collection, and other valuable content. HQO helps put family research in its historical, social and cultural context.
• Catalog of Digital Historical Newspapers (NewspaperCat), a UF Digital Collection: NewspaperCat currently links to over 1000 full-text newspaper titles with a goal to include links to as many US and Caribbean newspapers with archival digital content as possible.. Plans are to expand the Catalog as newly digitized newspaper titles are located.
• Chronicling America: Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1836-1922 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.
• Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet: A comprehensive, categorized & cross-referenced list of links that point you to genealogical research sites online.
• Digital State Archives: Link to content posted by state governments who have been sifting through their historical archives and digitizing records.
• Ellis Island: Search the Ellis Island Database by immigrant name alone or by name of ship that carried the immigrant to America. Also includes a Genealogy Learning Center.
• Family History Forms from Mid-Continent Genealogy Library: Forms to print including pedigree charts, family group sheets, individual worksheets, research logs, and census forms.
• FamilySearch: Free Family History, Family Tree, and Genealogy Records and Resources from Around the World.
• Find A Grave: Find A Grave is a resource for finding the final resting place of family, friends, and 'famous' individuals. With millions of names and photos, it is an invaluable tool for the genealogist and family history buff. Find A Grave memorials can contain rich content including photos, biographies and dates.
• Florida Archives & Manuscripts Repositories (UCF): Special Collections & University Archives offers access to unique materials for students, faculty, researchers, and the public.
• Florida Digital Newspaper Library (UF): The Florida Digital Newspaper Library (FDNL) exists to provide access to the news and history of Florida Newspapers are a state treasure, the historian's and genealogist's best friend, and the community's collective memory. In the world of newspapers, today's news is already history, from the moment the stories are printed.
• Florida Memory Project: Florida Memory presents a selection of historical records that illustrate significant moments in Florida history, educational resources for students of all ages and archival collections for historical research. The Project utilizes selected original records, photographs and other materials from the collections of the State Library and Archives of Florida.
• Genealogical Society of Santa Rosa County: Santa Rosa County GenWeb Project
• Genealogy Inc: Each State has information on its history, discontinued and extinct counties, archives, museums and libraries, Historical & Genealogical Societies, links to state & county government, state & county genealogy links. It also explains the Family History and genealogical records available for the State and each county within that State.
• Historical Atlases and Maps of U.S. and States:This collection of county maps, historical maps, and state park maps is carefully curated to provide a comprehensive view of the land and its people.
• Jay Historical Society and Museum: The Jay Historical Society is an organization of members that are interested in researching and compiling all known history (past & future) of Jay and surrounding communities (the people, the town, churches, schools, county, other). The society collects artifacts, antiques, pictures and like to securely display for generations to enjoy at the Jay Historical Museum.
• Periodical Source Index (PERSI):PERSI is the premier subject index for genealogy and local history periodicals, and is produced by the staff of The Genealogy Center of the Allen County Public Library. This valuable resource provides more than 3 million citations to readily-available periodical sources.
• Rootsweb: Finding our roots together.
• Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Maps of Florida: These maps were created for insurance purposes from 1860 through 1923. These maps show the size, shape and construction of buildings, dwellings (including hotels and churches), and other structures such as bridges, docks and barns. The maps include street names, property boundaries and lot lines, and house and block numbers.
• Santa Rosa County Maps: Seventy maps of various kinds dating from 1839 to 2009 from Maps Etc – an online service of Florida’s Educational Technology Clearinghouse.
• Santa Rosa Historical Society: The Santa Rosa Historical Society, Inc. was chartered in 1974 and is a tax-exempt, non-profit organization dedicated to the identification, documentation and preservation of Santa Rosa County, Florida’s unique historical legacy.
• The University of Florida Digital Collections (UFDC): he University of Florida Digital Collections (UFDC) hosts many outstanding digital collections, containing millions of pages, covering tens of thousands of subjects in rare books, manuscripts, global and generic maps, children's literature, newspapers, theses and dissertations, data sets, photographs, oral histories, and more for permanent access and preservation. Through UFDC, users have free and Open Access to full unique and rare materials held by the University of Florida and partner institutions.